The private cord blood bank industry has promised families all kinds of great things over the years.
A typical ad for such cord blood banks might say, “Your child may need cord blood in the future for a cure.”
The industry also often uses the analogy of frozen cord blood as an insurance policy for your child’s health. They sometimes note that the cord blood might be useful for family members too. None of these things are entirely false, but it’s just quite rare for families to need cord blood. It’s even rarer that cord blood can be used in a life-saving way.
A recent New York Times article highlights all of these issues including the awful situation when families actually do need the frozen cord blood but cannot use it despite paying all these years.
Private cord blood bank industry problems
Promised Cures, Tainted Cells: How Cord Blood Banks Mislead Parents, NYT. The article covers many of the top banks including ViaCord and Cryo-Cell, which I have had many concerns about over the years. The article notes the hype around cord blood as well that comes from for-profit banks and their allies. The other element that was somewhat new to me is that sometimes families when they do need the banked cord blood find that the firm tells them it is not useable. Most often this is due to contamination of the cord blood with bacteria. Sometimes the units don’t have enough cells. If I was one such family I would find that so frustrating.
Non-profit cord blood banks have my full support, such as that run by the State of California.
Other recommended reads
- Three-dimensional genome architecture persists in a 52,000-year-old woolly mammoth skin sample, Cell.
- In vivo CRISPR base editing for treatment of Huntington’s disease, bioRxv.
- Low-dose TED-A9 cell therapy eases Parkinson’s motor symptoms: Study, Parkinson’s New Today. This is clinical trial news from a PR from Korean firm S.Biomedics. The company reported signs of efficacy and no adverse events in the small study. The work is not yet published. Here’s the trial:(NCT05887466).
- ‘Biohacker’ Tech Mogul Bryan Johnson Now Undergoing Bizarre Stem Cell Treatment, The Daily Beast. I’ve written many times about the anti-aging escapades of Bryan Johnson. This seems to be about the young Swedish bone marrow thing again, although I’m not sure if this is old news or another round.
- Pioneering care for preemies – from artificial placentas to brain-healing stem cells, EU. This is an example of where there’s promising research going on, but an article oversimplifies and overstates things leading to problems. It’s all a little too enthusiastic and one-dimensional. Interestingly, the stem cell part of this story involves intranasal administration. Unproven stem cell clinics have been offering cells delivered this way too.
- Genetic cloaking of healthy cells opens door to universal blood cancer therapy, Ars Technics.
- German man likely cured of HIV after stem cell transplant, researchers say, Axios.
Please see the rebuttal from Parents Guide to Cord Blood. While unfortunate, many of the issues noted in the NYT are not indicative of the whole of public or private CB banking.
https://parentsguidecordblood.org/en/news/misinformation-new-york-times-article-about-cord-blood-banking
As true with any company or service, one should research and vet the level of quality that goes into a bank like these. AABB or FACT offer accreditation and help ensure the highest levels of quality. Accreditation alone is not a full guarantee, as one accredited bank in Singapore had a catastrophic failure. Due diligence is always recommended.
Guy,
Thanks for the note.
Also, I’ve added to my post that some private banks are far more responsible than others.