Allogenic transplants rely on cells from a donor with a similar tissue type. The patient typically gets stem cells from a member of the family, usually a sibling. It’s possible to find donors in the general populace, but family is typically recommended.

There is a national registry that medical professionals use to try and match patients to donors, but occasionally transplants do occur from an unrelated donor. These transplants are riskier, but enable patients to receive the treatment when no other alternatives are available.

Doctors have also begun harvesting blood and cells from the umbilical cords of newborns. Parents will often freeze these cells shortly after birth in the hopes of using the cells to help someone else in the family. There are some issues with these stem cells, as the quantity is often too low for a fully grown adult to utilize, but doctors are looking at methods to circumvent these issues. Doctors have even begun using the blood from two sets of cords to accomplish the same treatment.

When the treatment is administered, the donor’s stem cells are used to create immune cells. If the donor’s cells work in the patient, he or she can also donate more as necessary. This is why it’s extremely important to carefully match a patient with a donor. These treatments are still in their experimental phase, but there is a growing body of evidence that suggests these treatments will only become more effective as time and science progress.

Bio: Sasha Bakhru has dedicated his life towards the study of neural stem cells. As the co-founder of NeuroBank, Sasha Bakhru hopes to help patients store their stem cells long-term for treatment later in life.