fetal therapy

Baby Elianna Constantino has made history. The world’s first in utero stem cell transplant trial has reported the birth of a baby with alpha thalassemia after giving the fetus a blood transfusion enriched with the mother’s blood stem cells. Elianna was born to Nichelle Obar and Chris Constantino in February. The couple, who are from Hawaii, are both carriers of alpha thalassemia, and their fetus was critically ill during the second trimester. But researchers at UC San Francisco and UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland are conducting an early-stage trial that aims to help babies with alpha thalassemia using their mothers’ stem cells. Continue reading First baby born in stem cell transplant study