An Anglo-American firm has claimed that they have the ability to create a spare copy of a person’s immune system. This spare copy can be used in case one’s immune system is destroyed by HIV or cancer therapy, the firm says.
The firm in question is called Lifeforce and is located at Newport in Britain and has received permission from the US FDA to begin collecting 480ml smokes of blood from healthy individuals. It extracts the white blood cells and stores them for use against future diseases.
Lifeforce claims that by taking some of the stored cells, “whole new armies†of white blood cells could be grown in the lab and re-infused into the patient.
According to Del DelaRonde, co-founder of LifeForce, “That sample would have the complete repertoire of all your white blood cells.â€
People who are suffering from cancer undergo similar “Adoptive†therapies using immune cells extracted before they have chemotherapy or radiotherapy, which can destroy immune cells.â€
However, there is a risk that the cells won’t work optimally because of previous cancer damage, noted DelaRonde.
“Instead, we can send them their ‘pristine’ system from 25 years ago,†he added.
In case of HIV, a disease which progressively destroys immune cells, the process could be repeated once a year, by multiplying and re-storing fraction of the sample.
Lifeforce’s service will come at a hefty price of around $800 for taking the initial sample, and then around $25 per month for storing the cells at -196 Degrees Celsius.