Scientists at the University of Southampton have discovered that a region on the front surface of the eye harbors special stem cells that could treat blinding eye conditions. This part of the eye is called the ‘corneal limbus’ and is a narrow gap lying between the transparent cornea and white sclera. The research, published in […]

Adriana was born in Italy in 2009 after an in vitro fertilisation and her parents were finally achieving the dream of their lives. Everything appeared to be fine with the pregnancy until the last moment when the mother started to feel contractions and ran to the clinic. She had forgotten to bring the kit for […]

A new molecule, the first of its kind, allows for the multiplication of stem cells in a unit of cord blood. Umbilical cord stem cells are used for transplants aimed at curing a number of blood-related diseases, including leukaemia, myeloma and lymphoma. For many patients this therapy comprises a treatment of last resort. Directed by […]

Duke University Medical Centre in North Carolina USA is enrolling patients diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder in a phase one clinical trial involving infusion of their own cord blood stem cells. At Biovault, we’ve released 3 umbilical cord blood samples to Duke University Medical Centre in the last 5 years to treat cerebral palsy, so […]

ARDS is a life-threatening condition in which the efficiency of the lungs is severely reduced. It is caused by damage to the capillary wall either from illness or a physical injury, such as major trauma. The researchers investigated whether stem cells can affect the stimulation of the macrophages and promote the state in which they […]

A 4 year old boy with a rare disease, Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome (WAS) that is characterised by eczema, low platelet count and immune deficiency has been successfully treated with an unrelated cord blood transplant and 14 months post-transplant he is now free of eczema and bleeding episodes. This case suggests that unrelated cord blood transplants may […]

The latest clinical trial to explore the therapeutic potential of cord blood launched this month with a focus on autism. In recent years the number of children with autism has been rising, and no one knows why. A few months ago the Center for Disease Control and Prevention upgraded the prevalence of autism in children […]

In a pilot study at Imperial College London, stem cells taken from the bone marrow of five people who had recently had a stroke, were then infuse directly into damaged sections of the brain. Four out of the five patients suffered particularly severe strokes resulting in the loss of speech and paralysis down one side. […]

It is well known that freezing whole blood is a cheaper and simpler option for tissue banks when it comes to processing umbilical cord samples for stem cell storage. So why does everyone not store whole blood? The majority of tissue and cell storage banks remove the red blood cells from each umbilical cord sample […]