Britain has just launched a world-first study to identify people who could be stem cell super donors, with scientists planning to analyse DNA samples from up to 5 000 past donors to find out which genes influence how many stem cells they are able to donate.
The GeSTy study, funded by NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT), will look for signs of any genes associated with higher stem-cell yields, reports The Independent.
Stem cells develop into many different types of cells in the body, and can be used to treat a range of conditions, from bone marrow transplants to replacing cells damaged by chemotherapy.
However, annually, more than 400 UK patients are unable to have this potentially life-saving treatment because they lack a suitable donor, with NHSBT saying that about 40% of donors do not give a high enough stem cell yield on the first donation.
Scientists are hoping answers may lie in the samples held by the NHS Blood and Transplant registry and the Anthony Nolan Registry of past donors.
Dr Rachel Peck, clinical research fellow at NHSBT and one of the study leads, said: “We are carrying out this study because there can be big stem yield variations between fairly identical people.
“There are around seven to eight genes we suspect play a part but the study will be ‘gene agnostic’; we’ll see if there are effects from genes we have not studied before.
“It’s likely to be your combination of genes rather than one or two which make the difference and the more stem cells you can give, the more likely the transplant will be a success.”
Francis Judd (26) is a donor whose sample from last June contained the third highest number of stem cells of any donor through NHSBT during 2023.
At 1.1bn stem cells, his donation was around twice as many stem cells as the average donor to NHSBT that year and around 20 times more than the person whose donation contained the fewest stem cells, NHSBT said.
Results from the study are expected in 2027.
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