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FoundMyFitness · 2014-12-16 · Rhonda Patrick (host), Frans Kuypers

Dr. Frans Kuypers on Placenta as a Source of Bankable Stem Cells

20 claims checked against research: 1 contradicted 2 needing context 16 supported 1 unverified

1

Contradicted by research

0:08:05Frans Kuyperscontradictedhigh

A typical cord blood collection yields about 100 milliliters of blood, while a human placenta weighs roughly 1 kilogram.

"cord blood will be maybe 100 milliliters, which is about 3 ounces of blood, right? Okay, now a placenta is 1 kilogram, it's about 2 pounds of human tissue." (said at 0:08:05)

The claim bundles two separate physiological assertions: umbilical cord blood collection volume and human placental weight. 1. Cord blood collection volume: The speaker's estimate of approximately 100 mL is supported by clinical evidence. Studies evaluating standard umbilical cord blood collection techniques for banking or transfusion report typical mean or median yields ranging from roughly 65 mL to 110 mL (or ~107–111 g). 2. Placental weight: The speaker's claim that a human placenta weighs roughly 1 kilogram (about 2 pounds) is contradicted by standard anatomical and obstetrical data. The average weight of a normal, singleton term human placenta is approximately 500 grams (about 0.5 kg or 1.1 pounds), roughly half the claimed weight. A placental weight reaching 1,000 grams is pathological (placentomegaly), typically associated with maternal diabetes, severe infection, or fetal hydrops. Because the second assertion significantly misstates normal human placental weight, the overall claim is graded as contradicted.

2

Needs context

0:16:28Rhonda Patrick (host)needs contexthigh

Patients in need of a bone marrow transplant are unable to find an appropriate donor match approximately 50 percent of the time.

"And so you've got 50% of the time people can't find someone to have their bone marrow donated." (said at 0:16:28)

The likelihood of finding an appropriate donor match for a hematopoietic stem cell (bone marrow) transplant varies significantly based on racial and ethnic background as well as the level of matching required (e.g., 8/8 vs 10/10 high-resolution HLA matching). Stating a flat 50% failure rate oversimplifies registry data. In the United States National Marrow Donor Program (Be The Match) registry, white patients of European descent have a 72–75% probability of finding a fully matched (8/8) unrelated adult donor, whereas patients from racial and ethnic minority groups face lower match probabilities, ranging from 23–30% for Black/African American patients to 44–46% for Asian/Pacific Islander and Hispanic patients. Overall, while 50% is a reasonable rough approximation when averaged across diverse populations, the actual success rate in finding a match ranges from 23% to 75% depending heavily on ethnicity.

0:50:21Frans Kuypersneeds contextmoderate

Thousands of people die each year due to the lack of a suitable match or donor resource for bone marrow transplants.

"thousands of people die every year because they do not have a proper resource for their bone marrow transplant or whatever they need. Thousands of them, all right?" (said at 0:50:21)

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is a potentially curative therapy for life-threatening hematologic malignancies and non-malignant disorders. While thousands of patients worldwide historically faced fatal delays or disease progression due to the lack of a suitable fully matched human leukocyte antigen (HLA) donor—with severe racial disparities where optimal unrelated adult donor match likelihoods drop as low as 16% for certain ethnic groups—the donor landscape has evolved substantially. The expansion of volunteer registries (e.g., the National Marrow Donor Program/NMDP), umbilical cord blood banks, and the widespread adoption of haploidentical (half-matched) family donors with post-transplant cyclophosphamide means that nearly all patients now have an identifiable donor source. Nonetheless, significant numbers of patients still succumb to disease due to delays in finding compatible donors, lack of optimal matches among diverse ancestries, and healthcare access barriers.

16

Supported by research

0:00:09Rhonda Patrick (host)supportedlow

Dr. Frans Kuypers' laboratory developed a technique that retrieves between 5 and 7 times more hematopoietic stem cells from the placenta than from umbilical cord blood.

"They also developed a technique that allowed them to retrieve between five and seven times more hematopoietic stem cells from the placenta than from cord blood, which is currently a standard technique that's used to get hematopoietic stem cells used for bone marrow transplants." (said at 0:00:09)

A 2009 study co-authored by Dr. Frans Kuypers demonstrated that human placental tissue processing yields hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells at a cellular volume several-fold greater than standard umbilical cord blood (UCB) harvest. The study evaluated cell yields from human term placenta and confirmed their hematopoietic potential through colony-forming assays and engraftment in immunodeficient mouse models.

0:00:24Rhonda Patrick (host)supportedhigh

Placentas are discarded after delivery roughly 3.9 million times per year in the United States alone.

"Meanwhile, the placenta is discarded and thrown away after delivery about 3.9 million times a year in the US alone." (said at 0:00:24)

National vital statistics data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Vital Statistics System show that approximately 3.9 million births occur annually in the United States (for example, 3,932,181 registered births in 2013 and 3,945,875 in 2016). Following delivery, placentas are standardly discarded as medical/biological waste unless specifically retained for personal reasons or cord blood/tissue donation.

0:03:39Frans Kuyperssupportedhigh

Genetic disorders such as sickle cell anemia and thalassemia can only be cured through stem cell transplantation.

"sickle cell and thalassemia, both of them are genetic disorders, and they can only be cured with stem cells." (said at 0:03:39)

Sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia are monogenic blood disorders. Currently, all established curative treatment modalities rely on hematopoietic stem cells. These include allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) from a compatible donor and autologous stem cell gene therapy/gene editing (such as exagamglogene autotemcel), in which patient-derived hematopoietic stem cells are genetically modified ex vivo and reinfused. Supportive therapies (such as blood transfusions, iron chelation, and hydroxyurea) manage symptoms and complications but do not provide a cure.

0:04:09Frans Kuyperssupportedhigh

A standard cord blood unit typically does not contain enough stem cells to successfully treat an adult bone marrow transplant recipient.

"a cord blood unit that is used a lot currently in bone marrow transplant simply doesn't have enough stem cells to cure somebody like you or me. So that's why we started looking at an adult." (said at 0:04:09)

The claim is supported by extensive clinical literature. A standard single umbilical cord blood (UCB) unit typically contains a low cell dose (cell count/CD34+ hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells), which significantly delays or prevents engraftment in adult recipients compared to pediatric recipients. Because cell dose is proportional to recipient body weight (typically requiring at least 2.5 to 3.0 × 10^7 total nucleated cells per kilogram), a single cord blood unit is usually insufficient to safely treat an adult. To overcome this limitation, clinical practice developed strategies such as double-unit cord blood transplantation, ex vivo cell expansion, or searching for adult donors (such as matched unrelated adult donors or haploidentical adult donors).

0:07:33Frans Kuyperssupportedhigh

One microliter of human blood contains approximately 4 million cells.

"if you take one microliter, which is, you know, one cubic millimeter of blood, it has about 4 million cells in it, okay?" (said at 0:07:33)

Standard hematological reference data confirm that one microliter (equivalent to one cubic millimeter) of human whole blood contains approximately 4 to 6 million cells. The overwhelming majority of these are red blood cells (erythrocytes), which typically range from roughly 3.9 to 5.3 million cells per microliter in adult females and 4.5 to 6.2 million cells per microliter in adult males, alongside 4,000 to 11,000 white blood cells per microliter.

0:09:20Frans Kuyperssupportedlow

Frans Kuypers published papers in 2009 and 2012 demonstrating that cells isolated from human term placenta can be cultured to differentiate into multiple cell types such as neurons and heart cells.

"And yes, we have shown in 2009, the paper that you refer to, but we had another paper in 2012 that really shows that in the human term placenta—so this is the placenta that is normally thrown out... you can tease out of those placentas cells that can become any kind of cell in your body." (said at 0:09:20)

Frans Kuypers and colleagues published studies in 2009 and 2012 demonstrating that cells isolated from human term placenta can generate multiple cell lineages. The 2009 study isolated CD34-positive hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells from term placenta that generated erythroid, myeloid, and lymphoid lineages. The 2012 study isolated human chorionic mesenchymal stem cells (hCMSCs) expressing embryonic stem cell markers (such as OCT-4 and NANOG) that demonstrated in vitro differentiation into cell types representing all three germ layers, including neuron-like cells (ectoderm), adipocytes/osteoblasts/endothelial-like cells (mesoderm), and hepatocytes (endoderm).

0:17:12Frans Kuyperssupportedhigh

Hundreds of children have been successfully cured of blood disorders using cord blood stem cell transplants.

"cord blood is a good example because it has been used and hundreds of kids have been cured with the use of cord blood. So yes, those stem cells that form new blood because it replaces your bone marrow have been used and have been very successful." (said at 0:17:12)

Umbilical cord blood transplantation (UCBT) is an established allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell therapy that has been used successfully to treat and cure thousands of children with malignant and non-malignant hematologic disorders, including leukemias, severe aplastic anemia, thalassemia, and inborn errors of metabolism. Since the first successful pediatric transplant in 1988, tens of thousands of cord blood transplants have been performed globally with established curative efficacy.

0:27:49Rhonda Patrick (host)supportedhigh

Epigenetic DNA methylation patterns in blood cells allow researchers to predict a person's chronological age within plus or minus five years.

"They've taken blood cells from young individuals and old, you know, different ages, and they've seen there's patterns, methylation patterns, for example, and they can take blood cell from a person and guess their age with and they get within five five years, plus or minus" (said at 0:27:49)

Epigenetic clocks developed from DNA methylation profiles in whole blood (such as the Hannum and Horvath models) reliably predict chronological age with high accuracy. Across numerous validation datasets and machine-learning models, the mean absolute error (MAE) or median error typically ranges between 2.7 and 4.9 years, which fits within the claimed margin of plus or minus five years.

0:03:39Frans Kuyperssupportedhigh

Children's Hospital Oakland developed the clinical use of sibling umbilical cord blood transplantation to treat leukemia, sickle cell disease, and thalassemia.

"we also developed in this institute the use of cord blood—sibling cord blood—to transplant in individuals with leukemia or sickle cell disease or thalassemia." (said at 0:03:39)

Investigators at Children's Hospital Oakland established the first dedicated Sibling Donor Cord Blood Program in 1998 to collect, bank, and release directed umbilical cord blood units for siblings requiring allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Published cohorts and registry reports from this program demonstrate its development and clinical application for children with malignant disorders (such as leukemia), sickle cell disease, and thalassemia major.

0:31:54Frans Kuyperssupportedmoderate

Placental-derived stem cells have been shown in laboratory studies to differentiate into cells exhibiting neuronal characteristics.

"So we have shown that um so they can become neurons. They become any cell that you want, in a sense, right? Because you're able to tease them. Now, whether they will be a functional brain cell, that's a different story, okay? Because if you if you show that cells get the characteristics of neurons in a petri dish, what you do in a stem cell lab, it does not necessarily mean that I can suddenly replace somebody's brain cell, okay?" (said at 0:31:54)

Multiple laboratory cell culture studies confirm that stem cells derived from human placental tissue (such as placental mesenchymal stem cells and human amniotic epithelial stem cells) can be induced in vitro to differentiate into cells exhibiting neuronal characteristics. In these experimental settings, induced cells display neuron-like morphology, express neuronal marker proteins (such as β-III tubulin, Nestin, and GFAP), and exhibit functional properties such as altered membrane potentials or neurotransmitter secretion. As the speaker appropriately cautions, demonstrating neuronal marker expression and morphology in vitro does not automatically translate to successful cell replacement or functional brain integration in vivo.

0:36:32Rhonda Patrick (host)supportedvery low

Research by Amy Wagers and others demonstrated that circulating factors in young blood from mice can stimulate tissue and organ regeneration in old mice.

"Amy Wagers for one at Harvard and some others found that when they transplant, for example, young blood from young mice into old mice, this something happens that are able to regenerate liver, heart— GUEST1: It was a growth factor. That is exactly what I was going at." (said at 0:36:32)

Preclinical research led or co-authored by Amy Wagers at Harvard University demonstrated that exposing aged mice to the circulation of young mice via heterochronic parabiosis, or administering specific circulating factors such as growth differentiation factor 11 (GDF11), restores regenerative capacity in multiple tissues. This includes promoting hepatocyte proliferation in aged liver, reversing age-related cardiac hypertrophy in the heart, and enhancing skeletal muscle stem cell function. Because this evidence comes exclusively from rodent models, the GRADE certainty is very low.

  • supports: Rejuvenation of aged progenitor cells by exposure to a young systemic environment. (Nature 2005) · cited 2297x in the literature
    "To examine the influence of systemic factors on aged progenitor cells from these tissues, we established parabiotic pairings (that is, a shared circulatory system) between young and old mice (heterochronic parabioses), exposing old mice to factors present in young serum... Furthermore, heterochronic parabiosis increased aged hepatocyte proliferation and restored the cEBP-alpha complex to levels seen in young animals." (abstract, results, passage verified)
    pubmedfull study (doi)
  • supports: Growth differentiation factor 11 is a circulating factor that reverses age-related cardiac… (Cell 2013) · cited 957x in the literature
    "After 4 weeks of exposure to the circulation of young mice, cardiac hypertrophy in old mice dramatically regressed, accompanied by reduced cardiomyocyte size and molecular remodeling... Using modified aptamer-based proteomics, we identified the TGF-β superfamily member GDF11 as a circulating factor in young mice that declines with age. Treatment of old mice to restore GDF11 to youthful levels recapitulated the effects of parabiosis and reversed age-related hypertrophy, revealing a therapeutic opportunity for cardiac aging." (abstract, results)
    pubmedfull study (doi)
0:37:33Rhonda Patrick (host)supportedlow

Stem cells are capable of replacing damaged organelles, such as mitochondria, in other cells.

"There's also, you know, stem cells can replace damaged organelles in other cells like mitochondria, so, you know, these placental stem cells are, like you said, nine months old, they're young, their mitochondria healthy." (said at 0:37:33)

Preclinical in vitro and animal models establish that stem cells, most notably mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSCs), transfer functional organelles—specifically mitochondria—to injured, stressed, or genetically defective recipient cells. This intercellular mitochondrial transfer occurs via tunneling nanotubes (TNTs), gap junctions, and extracellular vesicles, and has been demonstrated to restore bioenergetics, rescue mitochondrial membrane potential, reduce reactive oxygen species (ROS), and attenuate apoptosis in recipient cells. Because these mechanisms and therapeutic effects have been documented in laboratory and animal models rather than direct clinical trial evidence in humans, the certainty of evidence for clinical translation is low.

0:44:12Rhonda Patrick (host)supportedmoderate

Dental pulp from wisdom teeth contains mesenchymal stem cells that can form cartilage, bone, and neural-related cell types.

"there's dental pulp in the wisdom teeth that is also um has stem cells, which are mesenchymal, so they can form uh cells that are like of the cartilage, bone, um and also, you know, other other tissue types that are relatives of neurons, not quite neurons, but they're getting there." (said at 0:44:12)

Human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs) isolated from extracted third molars (wisdom teeth) are characterized as mesenchymal stem cells capable of multilineage differentiation. In vitro studies demonstrate that under specific inductive culture conditions, these cells readily express markers of and differentiate into osteogenic (bone), chondrogenic (cartilage), and neurogenic (neural-related) cell lineages.

0:51:53Rhonda Patrick (host)supportedhigh

There are approximately 4 million placentas available annually in the United States alone.

"I do think with four million—just talking about the US alone, with four million placentas every year, you know, you're talking about the possibility of extending human lifespan dramatically" (said at 0:51:53)

National vital statistics data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics confirm that there are roughly 3.6 to 4.0 million live births delivered annually in the United States (for example, 3,667,758 registered births in 2022). Because each delivery yields placental tissue, the estimate of approximately 4 million placentas per year is an accurate approximation of the theoretical annual biological total in the US.

0:57:07Frans Kuyperssupportedmoderate

Funding for research from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the United States has declined or retracted over recent decades.

"Over the last decades, it's going down all the time, particularly creative research. And and the problem with that one is that new ideas—and it's not my idea, it's everybody's good idea—do not get developed in a way they should actually, as a society like we are, because we have much more potential than we actually banking on currently. And so the National Institutes of Health, as an example, has been retracting over time continuously." (said at 0:57:07)

Analyses of biomedical research funding trends in the United States show that following a rapid budget doubling period between 1994 and 2003, real (inflation-adjusted) funding growth slowed dramatically and purchasing power contracted. Reports tracking US biomedical research spending found that after 2003, growth rates sharply decelerated from 7.8% annually (1994–2003) to 3.4% (2003–2007), and when adjusted for inflation, combined public and private funding levels, including National Institutes of Health funding, experienced absolute contractions (such as an estimated 2% inflation-adjusted decrease in 2008).

1:05:17Frans Kuyperssupportedmoderate

Providing proper nutrition and supportive care to patients infected with Ebola significantly increases their chances of survival.

"what they found out that if you are able to give proper nutrition, proper care to a patient infected with Ebola, the chances of surviving really shoot up." (said at 1:05:17)

Published clinical evidence and outbreak management data demonstrate that early, optimized supportive care—consisting of fluid and electrolyte resuscitation, nutritional support, and management of secondary complications—significantly improves survival outcomes in patients with Ebola virus disease.

1

No source found (not proven false)

0:41:35Frans Kuypersunverifiedlow

There are currently approximately 250 to 300 cord blood banks worldwide.

"Well, as you probably know, is there are, I don't know, 250, 300 cord blood banks on the planet currently, and these are banks that store cord blood." (said at 0:41:35)

No published record matching an exact count of 250 to 300 cord blood banks was located; this does not prove the claim false. Broad estimates in the medical literature indicate there are hundreds of public and private cord blood banks established worldwide.

Unverified means no publication matching the claim was located; it does not prove the claim false. Spotted an error? See the corrections policy - disputes from the people quoted are prioritized.