Cellular Therapies
Imagine that your child has Leukemia. Although the child may receive effective treatment to eliminate cancerous cells, the treatment may also destroy healthy cells. Since such little children drastically need new cells, the cells must come from another source like the bone marrow of a compatible donor. And finding a compatible donor is not that easy. What if the patient had a stash of her own cells such that, whenever needed, a patient can regenerate her or his system back to normal? At birth, the umbilical cord is usually discarded, but it holds blood vessels that contain a significant amount of blood that belongs to the newborn. Such blood contains many stem cells. And stem cells are utilized by our body to repair damaged tissues and organs. What if this blood is collected and stored? It is possible that stem cells in these stored blood might be used in future to help an individual’s body to remain healthy. The Foundation for Regenerative Medicine is working to understand this concept of regenerative medicine and how stem cells and cellular therapies can act as a repair mechanism for tissues lost to wear and tear, diseases, and trauma.