What do you think about advanced health technologies such as freezing cord blood?

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I lead diverse teams of distribution specialists and multimedia journalists in creating multilingual content for a range of online platforms. I oversee the strategic development of our podcast and video products, driving innovative content creation and audience engagement. After training as a broadcast journalist at City University of London, I worked in production and on-air as a journalist or contributor for a range of prime-time TV and radio programmes at top-tier broadcasters including the BBC, NPR, Deutsche Welle, and various commercial networks.

Français

Que pensez-vous des technologies de santé avancées, comme la conservation de sang de cordon par congélation?
Italiano

Cosa pensate delle moderne tecnologie mediche, come il congelamento del sangue cordonale?
Español

¿Qué opina sobre la congelación de sangre del cordón umbilical y otras tecnologías de salud avanzadas?

In 2019, the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health opened criminal proceedings against the private stem cell banking company, Cryo-Save. Our investigative podcast, Lost Cells, uncovers the human stories behind the promises and failures of high-tech health solutions such as freezing cord blood at birth for its potential use in medical treatment.

Do you have any experience with such solutions? What do you think the ethical challenges are? Do you think more or less regulation is needed and why?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Jean-Loup 2025-03-06 08:48

The following contribution has been automatically translated from FR.

Hello, I sincerely believe that this would be an extraordinary advance in terms of stem cells, and in many cases it will make it possible to make progress in many diseases in the future. Of course, as with all advances, this has to be very carefully controlled, which is the only weak point - we've seen what the big laboratories have been able to do with messenger RNA.

Bonjour, je pense sincèrement que ça serait une avancée extraordinaire en ce qui concerne les cellules souches dans bien des cas il permettra dans l'avenir un certain nombre d'avancer dans beaucoup de maladies. Bien sûr comme dans toutes les avancées il faut que ceci soit très contrôlé, c'est le seul point faible on a bien vu ce que des gros laboratoires avait pu faire avec l'ARN messager.

Jo Fahy SWI SWISSINFO.CH 2025-03-12 12:04

@Jean-Loup

Thanks a lot for commenting. Controlled progress seems to be a key factor with this kind of health technology.

Savio Renato 2025-03-05 23:14

The following contribution has been automatically translated from IT.

I think that knowledge of the technique and uses of this procedure need to progress so I am in favour.
I imagine a use related to health problems, not for aesthetic medicine use except in serious and particular cases

Penso che la conoscenza della tecnica e degli usi di questa procedura devono progredire per cui sono favorevole.
Immagino un uso legato a problemi di salute, non ad uso di medicina estetica se non in gravi e particolari casi

Jo Fahy SWI SWISSINFO.CH 2025-03-12 11:58

@Savio Renato

Thanks very much for sharing your well-considered thoughts on this topic.

Logician 2025-02-23 22:54

I wish there was an old, frozen sample of my blood around. I have a rare disease, diagnosed by blood test about 10 years ago. But my first attack was about 10 years before that. And a blood test could prove it one way or another.

Blood tests on old, frozen samples of blood (from US military recruits) proved that multiple sclerosis is pretty much only seen in people who have been infected with Epstein-Barr virus.

Jo Fahy SWI SWISSINFO.CH 2025-02-27 14:58

@Logician

Thanks so much for writing! I'm sorry to hear about the rare disease you're dealing with. In your case, you would have liked to use a blood sample to test to see if something changed in your blood between the first time you suffered from an attack to now? Just checking I understood correctly.

OCRAM 2025-02-20 09:38

I do not see this as an urgent issue: there is much more in the medical field to discuss

Non mi sembra una tematica urgente: c'è ben altro nel settore medico da discutere

Jo Fahy SWI SWISSINFO.CH 2025-02-27 14:59

@OCRAM

Thanks very much for sharing your opinion.

What do you think about advanced health technologies such as freezing cord blood?

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