SINGAPORE — As stem cell regenerative therapies show increasing potential to become a medically-approved reality in the next decade, a new service — the world’s first — was launched yesterday to allow members of the public to turn their adult cells into stem cells and store them for future use.

The service was launched by Sceil, a subsidiary of biotechnology company Cellectis, and deals exclusively with the induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell storage service, with its lab based in Singapore.

Sceil does not offer any therapeutic stem cell treatments.

iPS cells are a type of pluripotent stem cell — immature cells that can develop into all types of cells in the body — that is artificially derived from a non-pluripotent cell.

To store your stem cells, you need to make an appointment with a dermatologist, who will take a sample of your skin.

That sample is then shipped from anywhere in the world to Singapore, where all of Sceil’s lab processing is done, as well as to Dubai and Basel in Switzerland as back-ups.

In the lab, the cells are expanded into fibroblasts, a type of cell that plays a critical role in wound healing.

Fibroblasts are the most common cells of connective tissue, a derivative of skin cells. These primary cells are frozen and stored at -180 deg C.

“The cells are then rebooted, if you like, and become cells equivalent to those at the first stage of life. They will be controlled and verified as iPS cells, and then expanded and stored,” explained Dr Andre Choulika, Chief Executive Officer of Sceil, who was in Singapore to discuss the ground-breaking research behind the cell storage service.

It started with a collaboration with Professor Shinya Yamanaka, the scientist who won the Nobel Prize last year for discovering how mature cells could be reprogrammed to become iPS cells.

After the results were published, there was a paradigm shift in the field of regenerative medicine.

Sceil proposed a tie-up with Prof Yamanaka, who agreed.

There are many possibilities for the use of these cells: Pancreatic cells for diabetes, neuron cells that can help improve conditions like Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s disease, and cardiac cells that can be used to treat heart conditions.

“Some of them might fail, some might succeed,” said Dr Choulika.

“However, this revolution in cell applications could be life-changing, by replacing or regenerating human cells, tissues and organs to restore or establish normal functionality, the possibilities of this are tremendously exciting.”

Alex westcott