Cryo-Save Services
The stem cell storage of umbilical cord blood stem cells may be a major benefit for your child because a child who can gain access to their own young stem cells, can in later life consequently access new therapeutic options that would otherwise be impossible. Close relatives such as brothers and sisters can also benefit from frozen stem cells.
In addition, work is currently being carried out on techniques enabling the number of cells in the laboratory to be multiplied. In this way, even blood material with a limited number of stem cells can still be used.
Umbilical cord blood stem cells offer a number of important benefits:
- Simple and painless removal (in contrast to bone marrow puncture).
- No ethical objections, unlike with embryonic stem cells.
- No rejection phenomena and no introduction of foreign pathogens as in the case of ‘foreign’ stem cells from another donor.
- The stem cells are young and have a very high degree of vitality.
How long do stem cells remain vital for?
Following processing and freezing in the gaseous phase of nitrogen, stem cells remain stable to an unlimited extent. This storage method is called cryogenic stem cell storage. The low (cryogenic) temperature stops all chemical processes that may lead to ageing or damage of the cells. A leading British medical journal confirmed in 2000 that bone marrow could actually be stored on an unlimited basis (I). We can therefore safely state that we can freeze stem cells for a human lifetime, without any noticeable loss of vitality.
Cryo-Save stores the stem cells from your baby in the first instance for twenty years. Your child, who will by then have reached maturity, can then decide whether stem cell storage should continue.
