Cryobanks

Stem Cell Banking

Renuka Diagnostics is a proud franchisee of Cryobanks for the Chhattisgarh region for Stem cell collections and transport across various districts and hospitals. Here is a brief overview about Cryobanks India and Stem Cell Technology and its advantages. Please contact Dr Amit Mishra [Mob: 9907166007] or at his e mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Cryobanks India

http://www.cryobanksindia.com/cryobanks-india.html

Cryobanks International India, accreted by AABB Accreditation and recently awarded with the most prestigious business award of the world “THE BIZZ 2010” is a joint venture between Cryobanks International USA and RJ Corp founded in 2006. Cryobanks International is a leader in the collection, processing and banking of umbilical cord blood stem cells. Cryobanks International provides a Private Cord Blood Storage Program for expecting families that wish to privately store their baby's precious stem cells and a Public Cord Blood Donation Program for those who prefer to donate. Founded in 1993, Cryobanks International, Inc., a pioneer in the collection, isolation, and storage technologies for cord blood stem cells, is located in Altamonte Springs, Florida, a suburb of Orlando. The company is focused on providing high-quality umbilical cord blood stem cell processing, and storage for both private family use and public donation purposes. Other facilities of the group are in Greece, India and Thailand.

RJ Corp is a well diversified Indian MNC, with business interests in soft beverages, breweries, real estate, hospitality, healthcare, education, dairy, food service and retail, with an annual turnover of over 15 billion rupees. The first signs of economic liberalization signalled the entry of Pepsi into India in 1991 and with it started the journey of partnering Pepsi in their beverages business in India. In 1993 Devyani Beverages Ltd was set up to take the Pepsi bottling operations forward. Currently there are 9 bottling plants operating across the country.   The current capacity is 35 million cases per annum during the peak season. In 1995 Varun Beverages was created and Devyani Beverages was merged with it in October 2004. Devyani International Limited is the food service/retail arm of the group and is uniquely placed with a portfolio of 3 international brands in the quick service restaurant space. (Pizza Hut, Costa Coffee, KFC)

Toll Free Numbers
1-800-102-2796(Airtel)
1-800-180-1217(BSNL)

Email
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What is Cord Blood

After a baby is born and the umbilical cord is cut, some blood remains in the blood vessels of the placenta and the portion of the umbilical cord that remains attached to it. After birth, the baby no longer needs this extra blood. This blood is called placental blood or umbilical cord blood: "cord blood" for short.

Cord blood contains all the normal elements of blood - red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets and plasma. But it is also rich in hematopoietic (blood-forming) stem cells, similar to those found in bone marrow. This is why cord blood can be used for transplantation as an alternative to bone marrow.

Cord blood is being used increasingly as a source of stem cells, as an alternative to bone marrow. Most cord blood transplants have been performed in patients with blood and immune system diseases. Cord Blood transplants have also been performed for patients with genetic or metabolic diseases. More than 80 different diseases have been treated to date with unrelated cord blood transplants

What are Stem Cells

Stem cells are unspecialized cells that have two defining properties: the ability to differentiate into other cells and the ability to self-regenerate.

The ability to differentiate is the potential to develop into other cell types.

Totipotent stem cell (e.g. fertilized egg) - can develop into all cell types including the embryonic membranes.

Pleuripotent stem cell can develop into cells from all three germinal layers (e.g cells from the inner cell mass).

Cells can be oligopotent, bipotent or unipotent depending on their ability to develop into few, two or one other cell type(s).

Self-regeneration is the ability of stem cells to divide and produce more stem cells. During early development, the cell division is symmetrical i.e. each cell divides to gives rise to daughter cells each with the same potential. Later in development, the cell divides asymmetrically with one of the daughter cells produced also a stem cell and the other a more differentiated cell.

Stem cells are the building blocks of various organs and tissues in the body. Stem cells have the remarkable potential to develop into many different cell types in the body. Serving as a sort of repair system for the body, they can theoretically divide without limit to replenish other cells as long as the person or animal is still alive. When a stem cell divides, each new cell has the potential to either remain a stem cell or become another type of cell with a more specialized function, such as a muscle cell, a red blood cell, or a brain cell.

Sources of Stem Cells

Sources of Stem Cells

Stem cells can be found in different places. And just where you get your stem cells from can make all the difference as to their potential.

1. Embryonic Stem Cells: Using a donated human embryo, scientists are able to extract the blastocyst (inner cell) from the 4-day old embryo. This is then cultured for about six months in a Petri dish until a cell line which contains millions of stem cells, is produced. Embryos are usually obtained from a donor who has given their informed consent that their embryos, originally created for IVF but are now no longer needed, may be used for stem cell research.

2. Bone Marrow: Bone marrow is the spongy material you find inside your bones. Contained within bone marrow, however, are stem cells. In fact, aside from cord blood, bone marrow is the richest source of adult stem cells. However, bone marrow stem cells have matured and therefore are more restricted as to what type of cells they can differentiate into. Moreover, normal environmental exposures and toxins have likely affected these cells. As a result, their use is more limited. Bone marrow transplants have been used to treat blood disorders, immune system disorders and genetic disorders.

3. Peripheral Blood Stem Cells: These stem cells also fall into the category of adult stem cells. Peripheral blood refers to the blood circulating in your system. Although this isnt the richest source of stem cells, peripheral blood stem cell donors can be administered growth factor drugs to help increase their number of stem cells. When donating the stem cells, blood is withdrawn from the body and stem cells are separated from the blood before the blood returns to the body. While this method of donation is simpler than bone marrow donation, there is a greater chance that the recipient will have complications, like graft vs. host disease.

4. Cord Blood Stem Cells: Cord blood stem cells hold great potential in treating a wide number of diseases and disorders. Cord blood stem cells are actually much more primitive than bone marrow or peripheral stem cells. These stem cells are taken from umbilical cord blood shortly after birth; once the umbilical cord has been cut, a nurse or doctor can drain the blood from the cord. This blood can then be frozen and stored privately or donated to public cord blood banks. When it is needed, the stem cells are thawed and ready to use in stem cell therapy.

Advantages of Cord Cells

Studies suggest that stem cells from cord blood offer some important advantages over those retrieved from bone marrow. For one thing, stem cells from cord blood are much easier to get because they are readily obtained from the placenta at the time of delivery. Harvesting stem cells from bone marrow requires a surgical procedure, usually under general anesthesia, that can cause post-operative pain and poses a small risk to the donor. A broader range of recipients may benefit from cord blood stem cells.

These can be stored and transplanted back into the donor, to a family member or to an unrelated recipient. For a bone marrow transplant to succeed, there must be a nearly perfect match of certain tissue proteins between the donor and the recipient. When stem cells from cord blood are used, the donor cells appear more likely to take or engraft, even when there are partial tissue mismatches. A potentially fatal complication called graft versus host disease (GVHD), in which donor cells can attack the recipients tissues, appears to occur less frequently with cord blood than with bone marrow. This may be because cord blood has a muted immune system and certain cells, usually active in an immune reaction, are not yet educated to attack the recipient.

A 2000 study found that children who received a cord blood transplant from a closely matched sibling were 59 percent less likely to develop GVHD than children who received a bone marrow transplant from a closely matched sibling. The use of cord blood may make blood stem cell transplants available more quickly for people who need them. About 30,000 individuals each year are diagnosed with conditions that could be treated with a bone marrow transplant.

Approximately 25 percent of these individuals have a relative who is an appropriate tissue match. While suitable donors can be located for many through national bone marrow registries, the process can take months. Donors can be located within 4 months for about 50 percent of patients. It often is more difficult to find a bone marrow match for members of non-white ethnic and racial groups; transplants from cord blood may make timely treatment available for more of these individuals.

Banked stem cells from cord blood can be more readily available, and this can be especially crucial for patients with severe cases of leukemia, anemia or immune deficiency who would, otherwise, die before a match can be found. Cord blood also is less likely to contain certain infectious agents, like some viruses, that can pose a risk to transplant recipients.

Stem Cells Functioning

Stem cells differ from other kinds of cells in the body. All stem cells regardless of their source have three general properties: they are capable of dividing and renewing themselves for long periods; they are unspecialized; and they can give rise to specialized cell types.

Stem cells are unspecialized. One of the fundamental properties of a stem cell is that it does not have any tissue-specific structures that allow it to perform specialized functions. A stem cell cannot work with its neighbors to pump blood through the body (like a heart muscle cell); it cannot carry molecules of oxygen through the bloodstream (like a red blood cell); and it cannot fire electrochemical signals to other cells that allow the body to move or speak (like a nerve cell). However, unspecialized stem cells can give rise to specialized cells, including heart muscle cells, blood cells, or nerve cells

Stem cells can give rise to specialized cells. When unspecialized stem cells give rise to specialized cells, the process is called differentiation.

Stem Cell Cryopreservation

The instances of clinical storage of cord blood have increase manifold in the recent years, and it is said that the number of units stored is in excess of 70,000 throughout the world.India is also a fast growing destination for the Stem Cells cryopreservation fraternity. Many regional processing centers have been set up to process the collected cord blood samples. Often there is considerable distance between the collection centers and regional processing centers which necessitates the development of short term as well as long term storage processes for the stem cells derived from the umbilical cord blood. The initial work on the theory of cryopreservation was done by James Lovelock who suggested that the damage to the red blood cells was being caused due to osmosis stress.

The Downsides:

In the cryopreservation process, the stem cells collected from umbilical cord blood samples, are frozen to sub zero temperatures. The cryopreservation process comes with many risks. The solution concentration has to be correct otherwise the stem cells being preserved may be damaged. Also, if the tissue cooling process takes place slowly, the water within the tissues goes out of the tissues thus forming ice in the extracellular space. This ice may damage the cell membranes mechanically due to crushing. The water migration from the cell may also result in cellular dehydration, which again can damage the cells.

How to Avoid the Downsides?

Machines are used to freeze the stem cells in programmable steps before putting them into the deep freeze stage in liquid nitrogen. The technique of Vitrification, on the other hand, claims to cryopreserve the samples while negating the damaging effects of ice crystal formation. The technique uses cryoprotectants before the cooling process, which increases the viscosity. The process also ensures that the solution doesn’t crystallize and turns into amorphous ice. The same effect can be produced through rapid cooling of water without using the cryoprotectants.

Why Bank with Cryobanks

Do you want peace of mind that comes with choosing a cord blood banking partner you can trust? Cryobanks International India, under the leadership of R J Corp and Dr Naresh Trehan, will always be there.

Cryobanks International India is the first State of the Art cord blood stem cell bank to be set up in India.

They have set up a 14,000 square feet, state-of-the-art stem cell processing and banking facility in Gurgaon, Haryana.

This brand new facility provides complete, in-house processing and storage technology, licensed by Cryobanks International, Inc., USA.

Closed bag collection method for harvesting cord blood stem cells greatly reduces the possibility of contamination of cord blood.

National coverage - Facility of collection is being provided from all major cities in India.

Their team of medical professionals have been extensively trained, certified and educated in cord blood processing and Quality Assurance at Cryobanks International, Inc., U.S.A.

The storage facility is an earth quake resistant building i.e. it is a concrete structure.

All equipment is backed up for 24 hours with UPS and Generators, in case of a power failure.

Adequate fire fighting measures such as automatic sprinklers and alarm systems are present throughout the building.

The laboratory operates 24 x 7.

There are Flexible payment plans that offer hope for your family

The facility is been fitted with a Central Monitoring system which monitors the temperature, humidity and pressure, 24*7 to ensure a controlled environment as required for Current Good Manufacturing Practices and Current Good Laboratory Practices.

 

Treatable Diseases

Research on Stem cell therapy has shown that these could be used to treat more than 75 life-threatening diseases. Some of these include

Cancers: Many cancers including: Acute and Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia, Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Blood Disorders: Thalessemia, Sickle Cell Disease, Fanconi's Anemia

Immuno Deficiencies: Kostmann Syndrome, Omenn's Syndrome, Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID) Familial Disorders: Breast Cancer Musculoskeletal Connective Tissue Disorders: Osteopetrosis Metabolic/Storage Disorders: Hunter's Disease, Leukodystophies
Check out the complete list of Treatable Diseases with Stem Cell Transplant
Acute Biphenotypic Leukemia
Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL)
Acute Myelofibrosis
Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML)
Acute Undifferentiated Leukemia
Adrenoleukodystrophy
Advanced Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL)
Agnogenic Myeloid Metaplasia(myelofibrosis)
Amegakaryocytosis / Congenital Thrombocytopenia
Amegakaryocytic thrombocytopenia
Aplastic Anemia (Severe)
Ataxia-Telangiectasia
Bare Lymphocyte Syndrome
Batten disease (inherited neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis)
Beta Thalassemia Major
Blackfan-Diamond anemia
Breast Cancer
Burkitt's Lymphoma
Cartilage-Hair Hypoplasia
Chediak-Higashi Syndrome
Chronic Granulomatous Disease
Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML)
Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukemia (CMML)
Common Variable Immunodeficiency
DiGeorge Syndrome
Dyskeratosis congenita
Essential Thrombocythemia
Evans syndrome
Ewing Sarcoma
Familial Erythrophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis
Fanconi Anemia
Gaucher's Disease
Glanzmann Thrombasthenia
Gunther disease
Hemophagocytosis
Histiocytosis-X
Hodgkin's Disease
Hunter's Syndrome (MPS-II)
Hurler's Syndrome (MPS-IH)
Juvenile Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (JCML)
Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukemia (JMML)
Kostmann's Syndrome
Krabbe Disease
Langerthans cell histiocytosis
Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome
Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency
Liposarcoma
Maroteaux-Lamy Syndrome (MPS-VI)
Metachromatic Leukodystrophy
Morquio Syndrome (MPS-IV)
Mucolipidosis II (I-cell Disease)
Multiple Myeloma
Myelofibrosis Myeloid Metaplasia
Myelodysplastic Syndrome
Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukemia
Refractory anemia with excess blasts in transformation
Neutrophil Actin deficiency
Neuroblastoma
Niemann-Pick Disease
Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma
Omenn's Syndrome
Osteopetrosis
Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria (PNH)
Pancytopenia
Plasma Cell Leukemia
Polycythemia Vera
Prolymphocytic Leukemia
Pure Red Cell Aplasia
Refractory Anemia (RA)
Refractory Anemia wih Excess Blasts (RAEB/RAEB-T)
Refractory Anemia w/ Ringed Sideroblasts (RARS)
Renal Cell Carcinoma
Reticular Dysgenesis
Retinoblastoma
Sanfilippo Syndrome (MPS-III)
Scheie Syndrome (MPS-IS)
Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID)
Sickle Cell Anemia
Sly Syndrome, Beta-Glucuronidase Deficiency (MPS-VII)
Thalassemia (Cooley's anemia)
Thymic dysplasia
Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia
Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome
Wolman Disease
X-linked lymphoproliferative Disorder (XLP)

Future Potential

Scientists are predicting that in the near future the collection of cord blood at birth will be nearly as common as birth itself. More than the existing uses of cord blood stem cells, research indicates that these stem cells someday may be used to treat numerous other diseases including

Alzheimer's Disease

Cartilage Regeneration

Diabetes

Heart Disease

Liver Disease

Multiple Sclerosis

Muscular Dystrophy

Spinal Cord Injury

Stroke