Stored Cord Blood Stem Cells Viable After 27 Years – and possibly indefinitely

For many years, cryopreserved cord blood stem cells were considered to have a limited shelf life. However, new research continues to challenge this idea and may even show that cryopreserved cord blood stem cells are immortal.

This summer, the Dr Hal Broxmeyer laboratory published a demonstration showing cryopreserved cord blood is still viable after 27 years in frozen storage. Similar demonstrations of successful long-term storage of cord blood have also been replicated by other laboratories, such as Cryo-Cell in Florida, Medipost in South Korea, and the Düsseldorf Bank in Germany.

Preserving Stem Cells and Health Indefinitely

Before the invention of cord blood stem cell banking, scientists were cryopreserving cells for the purpose of animal husbandry.

The record for the oldest cryopreserved sperm to yield live births is held by sheep conceived with semen that was frozen for half a century at Australia’s Sydney Institute of Agriculture. The lab reported that the viability of the 50-year-old sperm was the same as sperm stored for only one year.

The record for a human birth from cryopreserved sperm is not much shorter. In 2013, the Alta Bates IVF Program at Berkeley reported the birth of twins conceived through in vitro fertilisation using semen stored in 1971, after a total of over 40 years.

Cryopreserved for the first time in 1988, cord blood has a relatively short history and has been gradually accumulating case studies with longer and longer storage time. One example, among others, is in Nov. 2018, when Australia’s BMDI public cord blood bank announced the successful treatment of a leukaemia patient with a 20-year-old cord blood unit.

Research in the lab has shown that cryopreserved cord blood stem cells remain viable for up to 25 years. But new research is now showing they remain viable for up to 27 years. Many researchers agree that when properly cryopreserved, stem cells are effectively immortal.

Odds of Using Stem Cells Increase with Age

The growing evidence that cryopreserved cord blood stem cells remain viable for transplant over time adds to the already strong case for banking your baby’s cord blood.

Although the principal reason may be your baby’s health, the odds of needing to use the cord blood for your baby are actually the same as, if not less than, using them for yourself or a close family member later in life.

This is somewhat unsurprising. As we get older, rates of cancer and autoimmune diseases increase, along with the cumulative probability of needing a stem cell transplant. In the United States alone, it is estimated that 1 in 217 people, or just under 0.5%, will not only need but have a stem cell transplant by age 70.

With an ever-growing range of viability, storing cord blood stem cells offers the unique chance to help preserve your and your family’s health well into the future.

For more information, visit our cord blood banking service page or contact our team at 0115 967 7707 or custcare@fhbb.com. We would be more than happy to advise and support you on your journey.