title: Can cord blood banks transform into induced pluripotent stem cell banks?
abstract: The discovery of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and the rapid evolution of clinically compliant protocols to generate such lines from a variety of tissue sources has raised the possibility that personalized medicine may be achievable in the near future. Several strategies to deliver iPSCs for iPSC-derived cell-based therapy have been proposed: one such model has been the cell-banking model, using processes developed by the cord blood industry. The cord blood industry has evolved primarily as a banking model in which units of cord blood harvested from discarded placenta are stored either in a public or a private cord blood bank for future use. The consideration of a cord blood--like banking model has been further spurred by the realization that this population of cells is an ideal starting sample to generate pluripotent cells. Spurred by these technological advances, major efforts are underway to develop a current Good Manufacturing Practice--compliant protocol to generate iPSCs from cord blood and to develop a haplobanking strategy. In this article, we discuss the issues that may affect such an effort.
authors.affiliation: New York Stem Cell Foundation Research Institute, New York City, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Hongyan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: New York Stem Cell Foundation Research Institute, New York City, New York, USA; Q Therapeutics, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. Electronic address: mrao@nyscf.org.
authors.forename: Mahendra S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Rao
mesh_terms: D001771:Blood Banks; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000166:cytology*; D006801:Humans; D057026:Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation
keywords: cGMP; consent; cord blood; embryonic stem cells; induced pluripotent stem cells; manufacturing; markers