Financial Results a Pointer to Success of Stem Cell Program

Celle is wholly owned by Cryo-Cell International Inc, the leader in stem cell technology. While Cryo-Cell forcuses on umbilical cord blood collection, Celle works to collect menstrual blood. Umbilical cord blood is today considered as a rich source of stem cells. Celle is exploring and working to collect stem cells from menstrual blood. The technique is to isolate menstrual blood and separate stem cells, which are stored in liquid nitrogen for future use. That this technology of stem cells as a therapeutic treatment option in various life threatening diseases is taking off is reflected in the financial workings of the company.

According to Mercedes A Walton, Chairman and CEO of Cryo-Cell, the company has progressively made profits for ten quarters right to the quarter of March 2011. The rising trend started in 2009 and present indications are that it will steadily keep climbing up as revenues fuel research that fuels further growth in stem cell transplantation techniques and treatments. According to him the share prices have doubled and the future holds a lot of promise.

How promising the future is can be gleaned from the fact that the company, as on 31^st May 2011, had a cash reserve of $ 9.3 million, a 15% increase over its $ 8.1 million cash figures for 2010. In its favor is that it has no long term debt. Share price stands at $ 3.67 compared to $ 1.25 at the end of the second quarter 2010—a whopping 194% increase.

That the company is making intense efforts in stem cell research and marketing can be seen from the fact that while sales increased net income was comparatively lower at $ 177000, influenced by higher expenses and investment pointed at future growth and expansion in various other countries.

The company holds a lead in technology as can be seen from the licensee income that stood at $ 290000 in royalty for the three months ended 31 May 2011. The company has global operations spreading from Nicaragua at one end to Germany at the other end and it is expanding to Asian countries too. Gross revenues at the second quarter of 2011 approximated $ 4.6 million. Revenues climbed to $ 4.3 million from processing and storage.

Celle is a part of the company’s overall operations, specifically into menstrual blood collection and deriving stem cells from menstrual blood—a hugely promising renewal source of stem cells.

Celle, a Subsidiary of Cryo-Cell Banks Menstrual Blood as a Source of Stem Cells

Cryo Cell International is well known since 1989 as a company in the forefront of umbilical cord blood banking. It formed a subsidiary in 2007, Celle, to explore possibilities of harvesting stem cells in menstrual blood. They have researched and found that stem cells from menstrual blood are similar in properties to the stem cells harvested from bone marrow and cord blood with unique markings like those of embryonic cell. Stem cells menstrual blood origins do not generate the controversies surrounding embryonic blood. It is easy to collect menstrual blood as a source of vital stem cells.

Stem cells from menstrual blood are just as effective as cord blood stem cells in Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, anemia, sickle cell disease, osteoarthritis and diabetes. Research has thrown promising light on the use of stem cells menstrual blood to fight heart diseases and neurological disorders like Parkinson’s.

While umbilical cord blood has been used in more than 8000 stem cell transplant operations, there are no figures available for stem cells obtained from menstrual blood being used in transplants.

In order to collect these vital stem cells, women are given menstrual blood collection kits. A silicon rubber cup is inserted into the vagina during the day when the flow is the highest. Blood collected in the cup is transferred to a bag and shipped to C’Elle for storage and future use of stem cells from menstrual blood.

Laboratory trials have already shown the beneficial effects of stem cells in menstrual blood but it is yet to gain widespread acceptance. Menstrual blood is a more robust and replenishable supply of stem cells.

Scientists growing live human heart through stem cell treatments

Science is full of miracles and it can never be predicted what new miracle it will bring in the next hour. One would be reading about a particular breakthrough and thinking hard whether it is possible and they would show up a new one. It is only due to expertise of researchers that has led to the end of several diseases that were considered fatal. Researchers these days are busy in growing live human hearts with adult stem cells in their labs. The scientists of the Minnesota University, America which have made this possible are hoping that these artificial hearts will start beating within few weeks. This stem cell research has given new hope to millions and billions of patients suffering from heart problems.

It is a huge step towards ‘grow-your-own’ heart. Their approach involves extraction of muscle cells from the donor organs leaving heart of connective tissue behind. The stem cells are then injected which multiply to form a structure. This converts into healthy heart cells. As per Dr. Doris Taylor, an expert of Minnesota University, there is so many obstructions that have to be dealt with while creating a new fully functional heart. Taylor further says that she is confident that one day it might be possible to grow a whole organ for transplantation through stem cell transplant. The patient who undergoes regular heart transplantation should take drugs to repress the immune system for the remaining life. It might increase the chances of kidney failure, diabetes and hypertension.

The organs grown in lab earlier are being generated using cells – immature ‘master cells’ of the body. They are those cells that are capable to turn into different tissue types. During the year of 2007, researchers got success by creating a human heart valve with stem cells extracted from bone marrow. Taylor and team have already successfully generated pig and rat hearts. However, these organs could not be transplanted into animals as they were not much strong. Later, the team used human hearts taken from the body of dead people. Cells were extracted from these dead hearts with a strong detergent leaving a collagen skeleton behind. The skeleton was termed as a ghost heart because of its scary appearance. The ghost heart was infused with stem cells of the patients followed by stem cells treatments with several chemicals.

The stem cells identified the organ structure and started multiplying forming muscles cells of heart. There are many hurdles that come in way during generation of a fully functional heart. Major is providing sufficient amount of oxygen through a complicated blood vessels network. Further researchers also have to make this sure that heart cells will beat in a normal way. The scientists are very happy with the research. They believe that no doubt it will take some time to make this fully functional but along with that it has also increased the chances of growing new organs for the transplantation of human being. Moreover, due to stem cells coming from own body of patients it further reduces the chances of rejection by the patient’s body. The study would definitely end the problem of cardiac patients resulting in reduction of death rate of the people dying from several heart problems.

3-D Experiments coming out with several uses of adult stem cells

Recently researchers have come to know about the higher flexibility of a type of adult cells. A type of adult cells has been found to have higher versatility by the use of 3D experiments. Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) are one such type of the adult stem cells that have proved that these can be used in many researches and stem cell therapy. Dr. Paul Genever of York University participated in the annual science meet of National Stem Cell Network in London. He told about his work to grow MSCs under lab conditions that are mainly used during this therapy. It is because these cells have high potential to form a wide range of different cells that might be early precursors or muscle cells of heart.

As it is a well recognized fact the adult cells have already shown a great hope and proved to be highly significant for the repair of damaged cartilage structure and bone. These are most commonly found in the bone marrow, blood and other tissues in the body of adults or children. It is being predicted that the research will help to create a 3D environment which is generally occupied by the stem cells in the body of a human being. It will help to generate the exact conditions as in the human body so as to influence MSCs for the generation of different cell types. It is another fact that till now they have been found to be limited in the cell types they were capable to form under laboratory.

As per Genever, he has grown these cells in 2D layers under laboratory conditions. These were showing high ability to form fat, cartilage structure or bones. The uses of adult stem cells grown this way were many but they were limited to only these three cell types. Now with the aid of 3D technique it is possible to provide exact level of nutrients, mechanical forces and oxygen level which are present in a human body. The use of 3D layer instead of 2D increases their chances to develop into more number of different cell types. They indentify their roles swiftly and complete it effectively. This reflects their versatile nature. The MSCs are tiny spheres that measure just about 200-300mm across. It is just half the size of a tiny dust particle.

It is possible that one can observe the impacts of interactions within these small spheres. The interaction would be between number of cells or between these cells and several other supporting structures. The mesenchymal stem cells can be linked to other cells types. The most commonly used cell types are endothelial cells. These endothelial cells are found on the blood vessel surface. Professor Douglas Kell who is CE of BBSRC said that benefits of stem cells are widely known. They are useful for regular development of the body and its repair. This research will surely help to know about the exact environment that stem cells go through under regular body conditions of human beings and animals. Thanks to the 3D experiments that have made this wonderful research possible. It is a critical study in the fight against many severe diseases.