Japan Launches First Personal iPS Cell Storage Service

TOKYO, Mar 17 (News On Japan) - A new service enabling individuals to preserve their own cells for future medical treatment is set to launch in Japan, marking the country’s first offering of long-term iPS cell storage for personal use.

Teijin Regenet, a regenerative medicine company under the Teijin Group, announced that it will begin a new service called Bio Resource Reserve (BRR), which will manufacture and store induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells.

The service involves creating iPS cells from somatic cells found in a customer’s blood and preserving them under ultra-low temperatures so they can be used in future treatments or surgeries if illness occurs. The project will be operated jointly with life sciences company iPS Portal.

Cell quality is believed to decline with age, and the company says that producing iPS cells while individuals are still young and healthy could provide advantages in future medical treatments.

The cost is expected to exceed 10 million yen, making it a high-priced service.

This is the first service of its kind in Japan targeting individual customers, with applications set to open on April 1st.

Source: FNN

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