Alternative to Embryonic Stem Cells

I was at a wedding reception this past weekend and ran into a high school teacher who had a science student that was doing regeneration work on insects. They had given the insect some grape extract and the insect regrew a leg that it had lost. Normally the insect will partially grow the leg back but in this experiment, the entire leg was regenerated and that was really exciting news. The teacher also told me that regeneration can occur in humans too. If you cut the tip of your finger off, often times that will grow back. I was flabbergasted, I had never heard of that before.

That incident reminded me of the type of work stem cell researchers are doing today. I find the subject extremely fascinating . Stem cells are unspecialized cells that can be used to regenerate tissue or different types of cells. The potential benefits for Alzheimer, spinal cord injury,Parkinson's, diabetic, arthritis,and stroke victims is enormous. The flip side is that there is a huge controversy over whether or not embryos should be used to harvest the stem cells that are needed to continue this type of research.

Little did I know that there may be an alternative to using these cells. It appears that women's menstrual blood also contains stem cells that exhibit similar properties to bone marrow and embryonic cells.


There is a company called Celle that allows women to collect their menstrual blood and using a cryo preservation technique, the sample will be stored for an annual, semi annual or quarterly fee . These cells may have the potential in the future for treating some of the debilitating diseases like diabetes, osteoporosis and etc. There is a Celle Client Testimonial video that talks about the benefits of storing the cells for future use and for use by other family members.

Here is a press release with more details about the company:

Taking Control: Future Therapies for a Host of Serious Diseases May Be Found in Women's Menstrual Blood

July 07, 2008: 01:28 PM EST


OLDSMAR, Fla., July 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- With today’s hectic lifestyle, where most women are juggling careers, family, relationships, and a host of activities, the idea of possibly facing a serious illness in the future is not something that readily comes to mind -- especially when a woman is in the prime of her life. But what most women don’t know, is that the key to treating a number of possibly life-threatening diseases that she, a parent, a sibling or even her children may face in later years, such as osteoporosis, heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, may be found within her own body -- in vital stem cells, which can now be harvested from her own menstrual blood.

Now, thanks to the revolutionary research and technology of C’elle, a service dedicated to providing women with a safe and easy method of collecting and preserving stem cells found in her menstrual fluid each month, even the busiest woman can take control of her future, right in the privacy of her own home. With C’elle’s non-invasive collection process, menstrual cells are processed and cryo-preserved (stored at a very low temperature) for potential cellular therapies that may be used in the future. These self-renewing cells one day may even be used for sports medicine or cosmeceutical treatments, such as anti-aging therapies.

"C’elle enables and empowers a woman to take control of her future health, and possibly of those genetically closest to her, in a fast, painless and stress free way," said Michelle Kay, Marketing and Sales Manager for C’elle. "We live in exciting times, as science and technology are discovering how extremely valuable menstrual blood stem cells really are, and the enormous treatment potential they represent for future therapies. C’elle’s ongoing research is supporting these promising findings."

For more information about C’elle, please call 1-877-892-3553 or visit www.celle.com.


I have never heard of such a service and it seems quite unbelievable like something out of a futuristic science fiction movie. But at the same time, it is exciting new cutting edge technology and my hope is that stem cell research will continue to progress so that some of these diseases will be eradicated.