Abstract: An elective healthcare insurance model using an individual's own peripheral blood stem cells for the individual's future healthcare uses. An individual can elect to have his or her own stem cells collected, processed and preserved, while he or she is in healthy or “pre-disease” state, for future distribution for his or her healthcare needs. The process includes methods of collection, processing, preservation and distribution of adult (including pediatric) peripheral blood stem cells during non-diseased state. The stem cells collected will contain adequate dosage amounts, for one or more transplantations immediately when needed by the individual for future healthcare treatments. The collected adult or non-neonate child peripheral blood stem cells can be aliquoted into defined dosage fractions before cryopreservation so that cells can be withdrawn from storage without the necessity of thawing all of the collected cells.

Abstract: This invention provides methods for preventing or treating any disease arising from HIV infection, including AIDS and AIDS-related complex (ARC). The method comprises screening a plurality of donors to identify stem cells with a beneficial gene or genes and then transplanting the therapeutic stem cells into a patient. In preferred embodiments, the beneficial gene encodes a polymorphism that renders cells refractory to HIV infection. The polymorphism may be for a gene that encodes a ligand of a receptor for HIV entry, a product of the HLA complex, or a receptor for HIV entry. The Invention also provides isolated populations of stem cells with beneficial genes for resisting infections.

Abstract: A system provides individualized “baseline” or internal “control” for an individual by collecting cells from the individual at an earlier time point prior to the onset of disease, which can be used as a standard for normalcy and a benchmark or reference for measuring the progression or development of any process the cells undergo. This allows study of biophysical, biochemical, architectural, morphological, functional, or physiological differences between cells collected from an individual at one time to cells collected from the same individual at a later point in time. The comparison between cells collected at different times allows for the study of relative responses of these cells when treated with a variety of chemicals. With this system disease markers can be determined that can aid in diagnosis and discovery of therapeutics for the disease of interest. As a result, this system may provide a basis for the production of patient-specific, as opposed to disease-specific drugs.