Acorn FAQ Category: Stem Cells

Two very public conversations have caused this perceived negativity around stem cells and they are important to fully understand. Firstly, and recently, the industry has been plagued by a rush to market for therapies that have not been tested, or therapies not actually rooted in science. Like any new innovation, the hype and anticipation has caused a market rush from many players who are not necessarily rooted in sound medical science. Acorn was born out of fundamental molecular and cell science and we are committed to help facilitate visibility to the therapies that are based in real science that can make a difference in your life. The second area that has caused negativity around stem cell research started nearly 20 years ago as scientists first explored the use of embryonic stem cells for research. Obviously harvesting stem cells from unborn embryos was fraught with ethical issues and drove significant controversy.

The remarkable discovery of iPSCs in 2012 has thankfully put to rest any need to harvest stem cells from sources that compromise ethics. Acorn developed patented technologies that have been able to bring the value of cells to everyone in an accessible and affordable way. While we are many years past the initial controversial use of embryos for stem cells, the negativity still persists. Taking the time to educate yourself on stem cells and the current areas of research will allow you to fully understand and take advantage of what real science can deliver to the promise of cell and gene therapy.

Acorn believes that the future of personal healthcare will be unlocked by the value of your own cells. Cryopreserving your cells today is one way to ensure you will have your best cells for use when you need them most – in the future.

Your cells also have the potential to unlock valuable health information from the thousands of data points that they can deliver through human genome sequencing and other analytical capabilities. Over time, as science unlocks the immense health data sets that not only genome analysis can provide, but also proteomics, transcriptomics, and metabolomics that can only be analyzed through live cell collection, the more we will all be able to start preventing diseases before they even present themselves. Moving us all closer to prevention and not just treatment. Freezing your cells is the first step – but the future of cell therapy will involve the ability to understand your genetic and cellular make-up and treat you for diseases before the first symptom. Acorn will be with you each step of the way as science and medicine advance to very personalized, preventative healthcare.

There are always uses for collected cells. The most common one available today is genetic testing. Almost every day there is a new medical development in the use of cells as therapeutic medicines. Skin tissues and other organs are already being grown today from cells, we believe that growing entire organs on demand is right around the corner. There are a plethora of research avenues being explored. Stem cell treatments range from cosmetic uses (growing or rejuvenating new skin) to growing new, young complete tissues and organs. Cell therapy is a rapidly emerging area of medicine. As time goes on and research advances, the list will become longer and longer with the potential to cure diseases we never could have imagined. Follow us on social media and visit our website where we share the world’s most innovative advances in treating real diseases and ailments using cells. Acorn’s deep-rooted biological science expertise tells us that cells are the therapeutic currency of tomorrow. In our lifetime our own cells will be the future of personalized healthcare – and have a real potential to change the way we all think about healthspan.

Much the way we all age, our cells age too. Over time they experience irreversible damage that causes them to be less useful, or viable as we age. Unfortunately, medicine has seen that, when we need our cells most in life – later as we age and accumulate disease and organ failure – they are at their worst. Freezing them at the earliest possible moment in your lifetime will ensure you are preserving the best possible version of your cells rather than depending on aging cells with degenerative changes. Our cells age as we age, so freezing the clock on their age and disease progression gives you the best possible chance that they can be leveraged later in life when you need them most.

The discovery of iPSC technology in 2012 was one of the most significant medical innovations in our lifetime. It has meant that humans now have access to fully pluripotent stem cells, and are no longer tied to finding multipotent adult stem cells through highly invasive methods such as liposuction surgery and bone marrow extractions. The iPSC discovery has allowed us to leverage any type of cell and have them converted into an embryonic-like stem cell, an iPSC. This removes both the cost and painful traditional methods of harvesting stem cells; but it also removes the pressure that many families feel around the single moment in time that they can harvest their child’s umbilical cord cells, which themselves are only multipotent. With Acorn, these families can now collect cells at any point in their child’s life. iPSCs matter because they allow Acorn to offer accessible and affordable live cell collection for future medical use.

Umbilical cord cells and bone marrow cells certainly have traditionally been the most talked-about sources of stem cells. Although those sources of cells are sources of ‘adult’ stem cells, they are costly, highly invasive and always painful to harvest. In addition, red blood cells are not adult stem cells and also cannot be used for generation of iPSC’s. The discovery of iPSC technology has unlocked the ability to use adult cells as pluripotent stem cells. Acorn’s proprietary transport medium allows you to collect whole hair follicles from your head that contain live cells and safely transport those follicles back to our lab. Acorn’s non-invasive method lets you leverage the innovation behind iPSC technology and removes the historical challenges of highly invasive cell collection methods.

This is an important distinction. While multipotent cells are useful, they do not have the ability to become any cell type in the human body. Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent, but they can only be obtained by terminating a developing human embryo. Recent advancement in medicine have been able to derive pluripotent cells from adult cells. In 2012, Shinya Yamanaka and Sir John Gurdon were awarded a Nobel Prize for demonstrating a technique than converts fully differentiated human cells into pluripotent stem cells. This means that adult cells in the human body can be turned into cells that behave and function like embryonic stem cells – without having to harvest them from embryos. These embryonic-like stem cells are called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC’s) and can become any cell type in the human body. The hair follicles that Acorn collects can become these very valuable pluripotent cells once they are converted into IPSC’s.

There are actually many types of stem cells. Embryonic stem cells come from an embryo that is 3 to 5 days old. These cells are undifferentiated and can become every single type of cell in the body, and are thus called “pluripotent.” There are other types of stem cells in the human body. Adult stem cells, or semi differentiated cells, reside in almost every tissue and organ in adult humans and are responsible for dividing and replenishing the local cell populations, and are called “multipotent.” As we age this stem cell division and replenishment happens less and less efficiently. We all have adult stem cells of varying degrees all over our bodies. An unborn baby’s umbilical cord is full of multipotent stem cells; our bone marrow has adult stem cells; and yes, hair follicle bulbs from your head also have adult stem cells.

Our bodies are made up of trillions of cells that all work together to keep us alive. Cells are the basic building blocks of all living things – including humans – and each cell serves a very specific function in our body. During development, stem cells divide and create more cells that specialize to serve a specific purpose. Once their function is fully developed these cells are often referred to as “differentiated” cells since each is established in its unique role and has a very specialized function. Just like our bodies, our cells age too and as the process of aging takes hold, our cells do not perform as efficiently and eventually die off. Regeneration, or the replacement, of these cells also decreases with age.