With so many types of allografts now available to doctors and patients and with innovation rapidly enhancing allograft products, this area of medicine can be confusing. We get back to basics with a guide to the main types of allograft processed, stored and released by Biovault.
What is an allograft?
Allografts are human tissues and cells transplanted from one person to another. Allografts are used in allogeneic transplants (or allotransplants) to save and enhance lives in cases of injury or illness.
allografts V autografts
The ‘allo’ in allograft comes from the Greek for ‘other’, whereas the ‘auto’ in autografts means ‘self’ and is used to describe tissue and cells transplanted from one part to another of the same person’s body.
What are the main types of allograft?
The main types of tissue allograft are bone, ligament, meniscal, skin and tendon. Stem cells are also used therapeutically in allogenic transplants, both as a treatment for conditions such as MS and leukaemia and in combination with tissue grafts to improve successful acceptance rates.
Where do allografts come from?
Within a highly regulated process, allografts are collected from living and deceased donors. England has an ‘opt-out’ organ donation system.
“Thanks to the generosity of our donors and their families, we collect tissue from thousands of living and deceased donors every year. Annually, this provides around 8,500 life-changing implants for 2,600 patients.”
“Allogeneic: The biologic relationship between genetically distinct individuals of the same species.”
how are allografts stored?
Different allograft types have different storage requirements. Biovault has unrivalled storage capacity and preserves allografts at cryogenic (typically below -135ºC), ultra-low, (typically -40 to -86ºC), -20oC and ambient temperatures.
As the human tissue bank for an NHS transplant service, Biovault releases allografts on a regular basis. Our scientists are actively engaged in stem cell research and development, making us UK leaders in allogenic therapeutic products.