(Mark from FL) >Banking cells for the purpose of use later in regenerative medicine is supremely pointless. It is a hedge against technological development in

(Mark from FL) >Banking cells for the purpose of use later in regenerative medicine is supremely pointless. It is a hedge against technological development in cell reprogramming and repair Obviously, I disagree that the hedge is pointless. I do agree that rejuvenation tech will improve, I am working on some, actually. However, IMO a youthful reservoir of multipotent cells represents an early onramp for many of these applications. There are vast unknowns in cellular biology, and I never need go back more than a few months to find some largely unknown but recently discovered machinery: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28798046 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28798046 Some have been known for a time, and yet remain poorly understood: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vault_(organelle) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vault_(organelle) Sometimes, just when we think we have a handle on something, we find that the reality is more complicated: http://www.nature.com/nmeth/journal/v14/n6/full/nmeth.4293.html http://www.nature.com/nmeth/journal/v14/n6/full/nmeth.4293.h... Not to mention the abysmal state of reproducibility in biomedical research: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-39054778 http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-39054778 Don't get me wrong, I am not a pessimist. We are making, and will continue to make, great strides. However, biology intervention in humans is very difficult. Even something as basic as male pattern baldness continues to confound us. Just because we have the tools in the lab, doesn't mean that we can practically apply them. However, we will be able to work upon cells ex vivo much sooner than we can in vivo... ;)