Cord blood banking: Experts raise concern over claims made for stem cell applications: Video 1

Marketing by some private biobanks may be misleading expectant parents about the procedure's value, writes Jacklin Kwan Umbilical cord blood banking has gained prominence in the past decade as an option for expectant parents worried about their child's future health.1 Parents pay private biobank companies up to £3000 (excluding annual storage fees) to freeze their baby's cord blood, which contains stem cells, in case the infant develops a condition that could be treated with stem cell therapy. Video 1 Umbilical cord blood banking: overinflated claims of stem cells' application? Cells4Life, which claims to be the UK's largest private biobank for cord blood banking, says that its particular method delivers more stem cells from umbilical cord blood than its competitors' processes. For this marketing message it relies on research published in the Journal of Stem Cells Research, Development & Therapy . Publication of this research took place just 17 days after receipt of the manuscript, a timescale far shorter than is typical for peer reviewed journals. Two editors listed on the journal's editorial board say they did not in fact hold these roles, The BMJ discovered (box 1). Box 1 ### Claim of superior technology by UK's largest private biobank raises questions Cells4Life says it is the UK's largest provider of cord blood banking services. The firm markets its proprietary technology TotiCyte—a "precise, low concentration mixture of two solutions," the cryoprotectants dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and dextran—as the reason why, after collection, processing, and freezing, its samples have three times as many stem cells as competitors that use other processing methods (assuming that freezing and collection are kept the same across all methods). Patricia Murray, professor of stem cells and regenerative medicine at the University of Liverpool, says that there is no clear scientific reason why TotiCyte should outperform market alternatives. "All they've got in TotiCyte is DMSO and dextran, which are well established cryoprotectants," she … RETURN TO TEXT