The U.S. government has greenlighted federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. While this move finds support from the medical community, there are others who have valid concerns about the ethical aspects of this type of scientific research. Whichever side of the debate you are on, you can benefit from learning about stem cells, what they do, and stem cell banking costs, especially the affordable cord blood bank $19.99/month rates.

What are stem cells?

Stem cells are the undifferentiated cells occuring in the placenta, umbilical cord tissue, umbilical cord blood, bone marrow, and other parts of the body. These cells have the capacity to grow and differentiate for an indefinite period. As they mature, they can develop into many different cell types. According to researchers, stem cells are differentiate into over 220 cell types. These include skin cells, bone cells, blood cells, nerve cells, brain cells, heart muscle cells, and pancreatic cells.

What are the types of stem cells?

The four types of stem cells are:

Embryonic stem cells: These stem cells occur in the inner cellular mass of three to five days old embryos, also known as blastocysts. They are pluripotent stem cells. That is, they have the capacity to grow fast and differentiate rapidly.

Perinatal stem cells: These stem cells occur in the amniotic fluid, umbilical cord blood, umbilical cord tissue, and placenta of newborn babies.

Adult stem cells: These stem cells are present in the body’s fat, tissues, and bone marrow. They are multipotent stem cells. That is, they have limited capacity to differentiate as compared to embryonic stem cells. They are semi-specialized cells and can develop only into specific types of cells to form specific organs and tissues.

Induced pluripotent stem cells: These are adult stem cells which undergo engineering in the laboratory to alter their cellular structure to induce them to act like embryonic stem cells.

Why are stem cells considered valuable in medicine?

Stem cells are considered valuable in medicine because of their ability to differentiate into various other types of cells. This ability makes them useful in medical therapies for treating cancer and other health conditions. The body is less likely to reject stem cell transplantations in regenerative medicine and tissue replacement treatments. Another advantage of stem cells is that it is possible to store them for decades with cryogenic freezing preservation methods. Compared to the health security you can get from stem cells, the stem cell banking costs are reasonable.

What is stem cell therapy?

Stem cell therapy is a medical procedure that is non-surgical, minimally invasive, and relatively painless. Generally, researchers use adult stems are in these therapies. The medical procedure consists of extracting adult stem cells from a patient or a donor and then processing these stem cells in a centrifuge machine. The purpose of the processing is to obtain a concentrated mixture of adult stem cells. They then inject the concentrated cells into the body of the patient. That creates a healing response, and the body can repair itself.