stemcord

[mike c]

i'm at a crossroads on deciding whether to get stemcord storage for my upcoming kid ...

anybody have done this yet? comments?

I'm looking at this one ...
www.stemcord.com

 

[Johnd]

Not exactly a Naturalist, are you mike c?

 

[avaserfi]

It sounds pretty cool. I don't know how viable savings of stem cells are now but with more research there will be tons more things that can be done with them. Can't hurt from what I see, but I have no idea how helpful it will be in the future.

One thing to know is that there have been advances in stem cells to the point where they can actually be gotten from adults, kind of. The scientist who did it claimed to have cloned something then was called a fraud a year or so later, very recently, other scientists figured out exactly what he did and realized he called it cloning because he had no clue what he did himself. So they are working on recreating his work.

 

[mike c]

what's a naturalist?

seriously though, my PRO reasons are: one day it might save my kid's life ... one day it might save mine ... my doctor said I was a candidate for liver cancer, it's just a matter of when.

CON reasons:
only blood diseases are currently curable
they could just be some scammers/swindlers
unless they can clone a liver for me ... I'm still screwed. (or at least do something to help my liver)

 

[avaserfi]

unless they can clone a liver for me ... I'm still screwed. (or at least do something to help my liver)

Do what Homer did to Bart's kidney...steal one, well in this case, part of your kids liver .

 

[Johnd]

Ahhh, we live in A Brave New World, do we not?

Many people proffer reasons for those things which they do. We want to be intelligent, deliberate creatures. Much like intenet postings can come back to bite one in 10, 20 or 30 years, so too, I believe, can the sytematic extraction and canning of our (or, worse yet, our children's) blood, dna, placenta, umbilical cord, etc.

Some of us misplace our faith in humankind...others are simply way too trusting. I don't like the fact that my wherabouts, travel habits, spending habits, etc. are constantly being monitored and evaluated through my speed pass and credit card purchases. It's a fact of life in the 21st century (I use cash when I want to remain incognito and under the radar). I certainly do not want my blood and dna siphoned out of me, and "safeguarded and stored" in some remote corner of the Earth (nor on Wall Street). It's a Brave New World.

 

[furrycute]

Tissue or organ regeneration using stem cells is still the stuff of science fiction. With all the paranoia about stem cell research in this country, I think we'll probably have to wait another 20 years if not longer before we'll see anything remotely resembling human tissue/organ growing out of those petri dishes.

The question you should be asking yourself is, at the price that company is charging, is their service worth it to you. In 20 years, do you think that company will still be in business to service your son's future needs? With the current biotech boom/revolution/attrition, I highly doubt many current small biotech startups will still be around in 20 years time.


Actually, if you are really into this, you can store living tissues in your own basement. All you need are some regular supplies of liquid nitrogen. For some reason, living tissues are best kept viable if they are stored at liquid nitrogen temperatures. Just don't forget to do periodic refills of your liquid nitrogen tanks. And you will need a pair of heavy duty gloves (arctic heavy duty) to handle the liquid nitrogen. But it's not nearly as scary as they make it out to be in the movies.

 

[furrycute]

...It's a fact of life in the 21st century (I use cash when I want to remain incognito and under the radar). ...

I use cash whenever possible for the simple reason that I am less inclined to spend big bucks when I actually have to count out the bills