Our goal is to prepare the world for the future of personalized regenerative medicine, where we can use the power of our own cells to heal our bodies — and to do this successfully, it’s important to engage with the science that will enable this exciting future. We’re weaving decades of cell-based research to build a science-backed foundation for Acorn.
Science has been at the core of Acorn’s mission since day one. We see personalized regenerative medicine as both a comprehensive new approach to healing our bodies and a confluence of decades of scientific milestones in cryopreservation, tissue engineering, stem cell biology and more. These areas have demonstrated, over decades, the immense power of our cells and illuminated the profound benefits cell-based treatments can provide to people. Acorn is proud to be building on a long history of cell-based science, and we’re excited to unlock even more of its potential.
Studies show our cells have the potential to rejuvenate skin, replenish hair, recover from injury, fight disease and more. This scientific progress is driven by advancements in bioengineering, culturing and reprogramming technologies that enable our cells to outgrow, differentiate and even be induced to become pluripotent stem cells. Decades of research also shows that overall cell function and health decreases with age. As we age, we see diminished levels of key growth factors and molecules, lower stem cell diversity, the accumulation of DNA damage, and more. By freezing our cells, we can retain access to a younger autologous cell population that can avoid additional effects of aging and provide a better starting material for regenerative medicine therapies.
The hair follicle’s small size, abundant supply, rich cell diversity, and its ability to harvest non-invasively at almost any age make it Acorn’s ideal cell source. Because of this, we are actively working with the follicle to validate a number of important potential uses. We routinely process, freeze, transport and thaw live cells from the hair follicle - validating these cells as a proven cell banking resource. We’ve also produced stem cell-derived conditioned media, rich in growth factors, extracellular particles, matrix molecules and exosomes, providing a forthcoming application for Acorn’s banked cells. Expanding on our ability to leverage these cells, we have outgrown millions of cells from only one follicle, differentiated the follicle stem cells into multiple cell types (including osteocytes, adipocytes, chondrocytes and others) and successfully created induced pluripotent stem cells from banked follicles, with the ability to become virtually any cell type in the body.
With Acorn, we want to provide a platform where patients' younger autologous cells are a resource that can be leveraged with any number of therapies and regenerative medicine applications – directly through Acorn, or with any other approved therapy that can leverage a patient’s own cells. We are actively working with some of the top healthcare and education institutions in North America on research, including the National Research Council of Canada, the University of Toronto, Mount Sinai Hospital, the University of Calgary and others.
If you would like to include Acorn’s cell technology in your research, you can reach out to us here.
