Cord Blood Developments

In an effort to halt the spread of COVID-19 and mitigate the devastating economic and psychological toll of the pandemic, the FDA has issued Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for two vaccines. Amongst the population at risk are pregnant women; unfortunately, at this time, many questions remain unanswered in regards to the benefits outweighing the risk of vaccination. Medical authorities and governmental agencies have issued their recommendations for pregnant and breastfeeding women.

January marks National Birth Defects Prevention Month, and this year’s theme is “Best For You. Best For Baby.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 1 in 33 babies born in the United States are born with a birth defect. The CDC also reports that birth defects are the leading cause of infant deaths, accounting for 20% of all infant deaths. The causes of most birth defects are unknown. However, there are some things you can do to increase your health during pregnancy.

World Cord Blood Day (WCBD )is a day organized and hosted by Save the Cord Foundation to promote awareness and education on the topic of cord blood. This year’s event featured many keynote speakers who spoke about the value of stem cells found within cord blood and the importance of donating or banking these cells for future use. Another topic at the forefront was the unique challenges and opportunities this year has revealed in terms of COVID-19 and cord blood transportation and transplant logistics.

2020 has undoubtedly been a year of unpredictability. With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the medical community has shifted its sight on finding innovative treatment options for emerging conditions. Additionally, umbilical stem cells are being utilized in other clinical and therapeutic applications for conditions such as spinal cord injury, autism, multiple sclerosis, brain injury, and osteoarthritis. As medical science unveils the largely untapped potential of cord blood and cord tissue stem cells, we predict to see an increase in the need for expectant parents to store these valuable stem cells.

As we stand on the precipice of a more virtual and socially-distanced future, we want to ensure that expectant parents feel connected with cord blood banking. July marks Cord Blood Awareness Month, a month to recognize the significance of cord blood stem cells and the potential life-saving capability these cells possess. Our team at Cryo-Cell, and our partnering healthcare providers abroad, are committed to helping parents understand the possibilities that lie within umbilical stem cell preservation.

Since its establishment of the first private cord blood bank in the United States, Cryo-Cell has long been a leader in the industry of umbilical stem cell preservation. More than thirty years later, our mission remains the same: to provide our clients with the premier cord blood and cord tissue cryopreservation service and to aid in the advancement of regenerative medicine. As we celebrate this month, we wanted to share the exciting news of a partnership with Duke University Medical Center and its impact on our families.

Besides mesenchymal stem cells being explored in the fight against pneumonia induced by COVID-19, there are numerous other current applications of MSCs in clinical trials. Mesenchymal stem cells are a choice candidate in studies targeting degenerative conditions for their ability to restore skeletal tissue and to differentiate into other cell types. Let’s take a brief look at the most current applications of mesenchymal stem cells being used in clinical trials.

With the sudden outbreak of coronavirus, pregnant women have become concerned about how COVID-19 will affect them. As the race to find a fast and effective treatment option continues, many are seeking a solution in cellular therapy. Research in the clinical trial setting is pointing to the fact that the mesenchymal stem cells found in cord tissue may be used to treat patients infected with the virus. With this possibility, the decision to preserve umbilical stem cells becomes even more critical as cellular therapies begin to emerge for various conditions.
 

Among the different types of stem cells that cord blood contains, natural killer (NK) cells exhibit unique properties capable of targeting cancer cells and virus-infected cells. With the sudden outbreak of viruses such as COVID-19, otherwise known as coronavirus, there becomes an even greater need to seek “off-the-shelf” treatments that are quickly accessible to patients. Clinical studies are looking at umbilical cord stem cells as a possible method of treatment.

In the spirit of retrospection, as we have entered a new decade, we wanted to pay homage to the advancements this past decade has seen in regards to cord blood and cord tissue research. The past ten years have yielded a tremendous amount of research in what is possible in the way of regenerative treatments in several conditions that were otherwise thought of as untreatable through the use of umbilical cord blood and cord tissue stem cells.