May 8 – San Francisco recently hosted the opening ceremony of the newly established International Perinatal Stem Cell Society (www.perinatalstemcells.com ), an association that counts among its founding members four Italians , the country with the highest number of representatives after the US. “The opening ceremony of the International Perinatal Stem Cell Society in San Francisco is one of many initiatives that we intend to carry out to implement the clinical potential of prenatal stem cells,” said Kyle J. Cetrulo, general director of the Society, who added “perinatal stem cells are stem cells characterized by the advantageous properties of adult stem cells and embryonic stem cells, without the ethical implications of the latter because 99% of all perinatal tissue is discarded at birth. These cells have the potential to treat diseases such as chronic wounds , burns, strokes, cerebral palsy, diabetes and a host of other debilitating diseases.” Marco Reguzzoni , founder of Biocell Center, the first group in the world to have developed a technology for the storage of perinatal stem cells, comments: “I’m excited because the climate here in San Francisco is of great hope for the future. Perinatal placental stem cells will lead to a revolution in medicine, not only by helping prevent and treat many terrible diseases, but also by helping fight the most relentless of all processes: aging.”
