Cry-Cell is a leading company in the US engaged in menstrual blood storage. According to Julie Allickson, vice president of research and development, it is easy for a woman to collect and ship her menstrual blood for menstrual blood storage at a nominal cost of only USD 499. While umbilical cord blood is collected at the time of delivery in a hospital, for menstrual blood collection and storage, the company provides a medical grade silicone cup. This is inserted into the vagina on the day when her menstrual flow is the heaviest. In about three hours’ time it is possible to collect between 10 to 20 milliliters of menstrual blood. The blood is poured into a collection kit that Cryo-Cell provides and it is mailed to the laboratory for processing and storage. It is the only menstrual blood bank of its kind and storage costs $ 99 a year.
There is no news on the number of women who have banked menstrual blood so far. Since a woman menstruates every month, menstrual blood is a viable source of renewable stem cells. The future of stem cell international transplants could rely heavily on development and propagation of the concept of menstrual blood collection and storage. This is an evolving technology but over the years one can expect it to become a regular feature of the medical world.
Already, across the US, several stem cell banks have come into being and are operational. There is an ongoing active drive to collect such menstrual blood and cord blood from women across various ethnic and racial backgrounds to broad base the stem cells that might be of immense therapeutic use in treating racial minorities in the US. Companies like Cryo Cell have a headstart in this program and with state funding and encouragement, the future should see costs of stem cell transplants come down drastically.
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