CORDLIFE is now the largest network of private cord blood banks in Asia Pacific with state-of-the-art cord-blood and tissue processing and cryopreservation facilities in the country.

Once considered a medical waste, the blood left in the umbilical cordthe part of the placenta that delivers nutrients to a fetusafter a baby is delivery is now known to be a rich source of blood-forming stem cells.

These cells have been found to be potentially useful in treating diseases that require stem cell transplants (also called bone marrow transplants) such as certain kinds of leukemia or lymphoma, aplastic anemia (a blood disorder in which the bodys bone marrow doesnt make enough new blood cells), severe sickle cell disease and severe combined immunodeficiency.

Unlike with bone marrow, which is obtained through a painful medical procedure, there is only one chance to collect this seemingly precious stuff: immediately after the babys birth.

This is why a number of expectant parents in the country are being offered a chance to save stem cells from their babys umbilical cord blood via what is known as cord-blood banking.

Safeguard

Cordlife Philippines medical director Arvin Faundo said: Its a type of safeguard because the genetically unique stem cells have current and potential uses in medical treatment. No parent wishes his/her child to experience the heartbreaking effects of any illness. What we at Cordlife offer them is the chance to prepare for potential eventualitiesto secure the future well-being and happiness of their family.

Cordlife Philippines is a subsidiary of Cordlife Group Ltd., a company listed on the Singapore Exchange. Launched in February 2010 as the Philippines first and only cord-blood processing and cryopreservation facility, its facility was ISO-certified and built in accordance to global gold standards such as the American Association of Blood Banks.

The 365-day facility, located within UP-Ayala Land TechnoHub in Quezon City, is equipped with the worlds most advanced fully automated cord-blood processing system, the Swiss-made Sepax.

CordLife uses the US FDA-approved cryogenic storage pouch.

View post:
Freezing newborns own stem cells for possible future use

Knee Cartilage Repair With Tissue Engineered Scaffold To Hold Patient #39;s Own Stem Cells
Cartilage in the knee can get damaged by sporting injuries (different from wear and tear in the older patient). These injuries respond very well to stem cell procedures when coupled with tissue...

By: Orthopaedic Clinic, Singapore - Limb Salvage and Revision Arthroplasty Surgery Pte Ltd

See the original post:
Knee Cartilage Repair With Tissue Engineered Scaffold To Hold Patient's Own Stem Cells - Video

CAMBRIDGE, England, Dec. 25 (UPI) -- The first time in history, researchers have successfully used human embryonic stem cells to create primordial germ cells, cells that divide and mature into egg and sperm. Previously, the feat had been accomplished using rodent stem cells -- not those from a human embryo.

"Researchers have been attempting to create human primordial germ cells (PGCs) in the petri dish for years," leader author Jacob Hanna, a researcher in the Institute's Molecular Genetics Department, said in a released statement.

Stem cells are undifferentiated biological cells capable of dividing and transforming into specialized cells. They are the most basic of biological building blocks.

"The creation of primordial germ cells is one of the earliest events during early mammalian development," study co-author Naoko Irie, researcher at the Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute at the University of Cambridge, said in a press release.

"It's a stage we've managed to recreate using stem cells from mice and rats, but until now few researches have done this systematically using human stem cells," Irie added.

Researchers say the newly realized feat has revealed differences between embryo development in humans and rodents -- discrepancies that could undermine studies that extrapolate mice and rat-based evidence to human-related conclusions.

"Having the ability to create human PGCs in the petri dish will enable us to investigate the process of differentiation on the molecular level," Hanna said.

The research was published this week in the journal Cell.

2014 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Read the original post:
Scientists create human primordial cells in the lab

An investigative panel under the government-backed Riken research institute announced Friday that the so-called STAP stem cells described in the research papers lead-authored by Haruko Obokata were created from embryonic stem (ES) cells.

It also said it discovered two more cases of research misconduct by the embattled scientist.

The panel concluded STAP stem cells . . . were derived from ES cells, based on examinations of the remaining samples, Isao Katsura, director general of the National Institute of Genetics and head of the seven-member panel, told reporters Friday in Tokyo.

Katsura also noted that the chimera mice and teratomas claimed to be developed from STAP cells were highly likely to be generated from ES cells.

However, the panel was unable to reach a conclusion on who introduced the embryonic stem cells, or whether they were introduced deliberately or by accident, citing insufficient evidence.

Moreover, the panel, which had been investigating the two papers on stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency published in the British journal Nature, found two fresh instances of research misconduct by Obokata, in connection with data in one of the papers.

We concluded Obokata fabricated data for two charts on growth curves of (STAP stem) cells and DNA methylation, Katsura said.

The findings add to two counts of research misconduct found to have been committed by the 31-year-old biologist by another Riken panel earlier this year. This, along with other allegations of misconduct, prompted Riken to set up the panel headed by Katsura in September. Obokata resigned from the institute Sunday.

Meanwhile, Katsura said that Teruhiko Wakayama and Hitoshi Niwa, two of the co-authors of the STAP papers subject to the panels review, were not involved in any misconduct. He added that Yoshiki Sasai, another co-author who oversaw Obokatas writing, was not investigated because he committed suicide in August.

The Nature papers published in January claimed that the team of scientists led by Obokata found a groundbreaking method of stem cell generation, but they were retracted in July.

Read the original post:
STAP cells claimed by Obokata were likely embryonic stem cells