Lost stem cells: the scandal of a Swiss cord blood bank  

Imagine placing all your hopes on your baby’s stem cells to save their life or yours, only to fear seeing that hope vanish along with your child’s cells. 

When their daughter Isabella was born, Tatiana and Ratko stored her stem cells with the Swiss company Cryo-Save, just in case she might need them in the future.

And she did. Isabella has autism, and her stem cells were supposed to help doctors at Duke University with an experimental treatment.  

But in 2019, the company went bankrupt, and the cells were transported to other countries. Tens of thousands of samples were unidentified when they arrived.  

The six-part series is an original SWI swissinfo.ch trilingual podcast. ‘Lost Cells’ is available in English, Spanish, and French and was produced in collaboration with Studio OchentaExternal linkExternal link, Piz Gloria Productions, and Futur Proche. It is narrated in English by award-winning science journalist, Angela SainiExternal linkExternal link.

Listen and subscribe to ‘Lost Cells’ on your favourite podcast app to make sure you never miss an episode. It is now available on Apple Podcasts,External linkExternal link SpotifyExternal linkExternal link, YouTubeExternal linkExternal link, and all major podcast platforms. Let us know what you think of the series, here.

Lost Cells

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