Your future kid might save you

There is some good news for those who dread and detest going under the scalpel. For the first time in the state and probably in the country, the stem cell therapy is here to help. Apollo Hospitals at Bhat, Gandhinagar, is going to launch its 'stem cell bank-cum-research centre' soon.

At the facility, the blood from the umbilical cord of babies containing life-giving cells will be preserved for 21 years. This miraculous stem cell will help patients recover from life-threatening diseases, which earlier might not have been possible.

The stem cell project has been initiated by Apollo Hospitals in collaboration with Cadila Pharmaceuticals and StemCyte India Private Limited. The storage facility will be established as a centre of excellence on Apollo campus.

In addition to a private cord blood bank, the hospital is also planning to establish a public bank. In the private bank, parties will bear the cost of storing cord blood, which could range from Rs75,000 to Rs1lakh. In the public set-up, people who have not deposited the blood but want to get the benefit will be entertained. In this case, cord blood donated by people will be stored.

Tushar Dalal, president of StemCyte India Private Limited, a subsidiary of a US-based company, said: "We are planning to establish public bank along with the private bank. By doing so we will become the first company in India with such huge infrastructure. For the public one, we are planning a capacity up to 20,000 units whereas for private bank it will go up to 87,000 or even more as per demand."

The building housing the stem cell facility is spread on around 7,500 sq feet, and costs Rs6.8 crore. The company initially will begin with the storage capacity of 4,000-5,000 units.

On the importance of the bank, COO of Apollo Hospitals, Ahmedabad, Dr Praful Pawar told DNA:  "For health disorders like neurological (strokes, spinal cord injuries), cardiovascular diseases (acute heart attack and cardiac myopathies), liver diseases (liver failures using adult stem cells), osteoarthritis and ocular conditions, corneal regeneration and cancers (specially blood cancers like thalassemia major), this therapy can do miracles."

The blood that is stored at minus 180 to minus 196 degrees Celsius can be used for even siblings or other family members as the chances of getting a match for others is very high. And with growing number of cardiovascular cases and road traffic accidents leading to spinal injuries and other lifestyle disorders, this technology can prove wonders, added Pawar.

The Apollo blood bank will be the company's only bank in India where blood from all over the country will be stored. The company initially will focus on Gujarat and Mumbai followed by rest of Maharashtra and other parts of the country.

Besides Apollo Stemcyte,  Life Line, Reliance Life Sciences, AIIMS, and Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine in Bangalore are the organisations that are engaged in stem cell research.