The news follows on the whole question hanging as yet unresolved over the future of stem cell research  at the European Court of Justice.

The method reports BioNews, involves collecting a blood sample from the client at home, which is taken to a laboratory. Centrifuge separation of the plasma, red cells and white cells isolates blastomere-like stem cells, that are isolated and extracted from the plasma and stored at minus 80^o Celsius.

'The real innovation here is being able to extract stem cells from blood. We can take these cells from a normal blood sample, a major step forward in making this available to the masses in a way which is not harrowing or expensive', says Graeme Purdy, CEO Sheffield-based Altrika. This company which processes the stem cells (itself a wholly owned subsidiary of Southampton based Ilika)  and works with the cryogenic storage facility Vindon Healthcare of Rochdale.

The method developed by researchers at Wisconsin University, US, is approved by the UK's Human Tissue Authority. Prior to this development only stem cells taken from umbilical cord blood or 'spare' embryos could be banked.

Athol Haas' CEO of Pharmacells, under which the adult stem cell bank, Oristem, operates, says "The two great advantages of the technology are that it is minimally invasive and cost effective, and also the cell type itself has much more theoretical use in science than any other type of cell you can collect. The other advantage is that these are not embryonic cells so there is no ethical controversy attached."

The method is far less invasive than the alternatives , namely liposuction or apheresis, where the blood is passed through an external device which separates its constituent cell-types.

Blastomere-like cells are unspecialised cells with the potential to differentiate into other types of cells. "They look  different from normal stem cells ... a bit smaller and have a slightly funny shape. But all the indications at the moment are they do behave in a similar way," says  Dr David Lightbody, Strathclyde University.

There is, however, disagreement among industry experts as to the value of banking stem cells at present. Haas admits, 'no specific therapy exists that uses these stem cells yet', he said they 'expect that to change in the next couple of years and are actively working towards that'.

Dr Anna Veiga of the International Society for Stem Cell Research expressed scepticism. "It is one more of these companies who are selling stem cell products through the internet that are mainly businesses based on hopes they give to people with respect to therapies that have not been confirmed," she said.