Do we save our cells?
My sister always comes to me with science questions, as I was a scientist in a previous life. At the beginning of her pregnancy, she asked me about chord blood banking, what I knew, what I had heard. At the time, I didnt know much, so I looked it up. The idea is that you can cryogenically freeze umbilical cord blood for potential use in the future if your child need something like bone marrow to cure a disease. I stress potential, because nobody actually knows if this works yet.
Enter C'elle .
Cryto-Cell has introduced a product/service called C'elle. The product freezes down menstrual blood and endomentrial tissue. They claim that these cells have the same characteristics as stem cell and that they should be saved for future use for the client. Personalized medicine, I believe it is often called. So for only $500 dollars and then an annual fee of $99 you too can protect yourself against future maladies. I am not so sure I am buying into this one…
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November 14th, 2007 at 7:43 pm
i think this sort of thing was the basis for some really, really crappy episode of law and order a while back
December 6th, 2007 at 7:19 pm
Uhhh, if menstrual blood and/or endometrial tissue — plentiful, renewable, available from 50% of the world’s population — had capabilities similar to stem cells, wouldn’t that be ALL OVER the scientific community? The notable lack of that makes me think C’elle is wildly overstating their capabilities.
(I am not a biologist, though, so maybe there is some obscure research out there which supports their claims…)
December 7th, 2007 at 10:32 am
Umm yeah Erica, exactly. I think htere were a bunch of articles in the popular media about it. At least, I noticed some on yahoo news and sites like that. But not much in the scientific press. Odd huh… I think C’elle, like any business has discovered a way to make us feel like we can save ourselves in some way. For a low low fee of $500! Minimal in the grand scheme of things. Anyway, I am a cynic.