Americord focuses on the collection, processing, and storage of newborn stem
cells from umbilical cord blood and the placenta for future medical or therapeutic use.
Early animal studies have shown that stem cells
isolated from umbilical cord blood can stimulate cells in the spinal cord to regrow their myelin layers, and in doing so help restore connections with surrounding cells.
The data set, one of the largest of its kind, includes primary data and associated metadata from nearly 530,000 immune cells
from umbilical cord blood of newborns and bone marrow of adults.
Mesenchymal stem cells
derived from umbilical cord blood have been shown in animal as well as in vitro experiments to attenuate collagen - induced arthritis and suppress inflammation.
Hopes for treating disease with stem
cells from umbilical cord blood has received a major boost, following the discovery of primitive cells with clinical potential matching that of the far more controversial embryonic stem cells (ESCs).
There have also been at least three cases of people developing leukaemia after receiving stem cells
from umbilical cord blood.
Stem cells
from umbilical cord blood are highly prized for their ability to change into the cells of other tissues.
Using stem cells
from umbilical cord blood, researchers are growing clusters of real liver cells in the lab.
Colin McGuckin and Nico Forraz of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in England gathered stem cells
from umbilical cord blood, treated them with nutrients and growth factors that programmed them to become liver cells, then placed them in two kinds of lab environments.
The technology to grow NK cells
from umbilical cord blood was developed by Nina Shah, M.D., assistant professor and Elizabeth J. Shpall, M.D., professor in the department of Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Additional data * of immune cells
from umbilical cord blood and adult bone marrow was provided by the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.
Unlike embryonic stem cells from earlier in development, fetal stem cells
from umbilical cord blood are multipotent - they can develop into a limited number of cell types.