Other People’s DNA in Me?

This is Dr. Joy Kong. I posted a video about how to pick a good stem cell clinic just a few days ago. And one of the questions that popped up was how do you know the wrong DNA is not going to come into your body from the stem cell transplant? So it's actually a very interesting question and very common question and I want to really have a chance to explain the background regarding this particular concern. So first of all, you probably, if you've been following me on YouTube or you're one of the doctors who have been talking with me, you would know that I'm a big proponent of using natal source, so birth tissue source, stem cells, because comparing to stem cells from our own body, these are a lot more potent and a lot safer. So that I have a whole video, you know, explaining the signs, you know, around it. It's a whole 40 minute video called Are All Stem Cells or Are All MSCs Created Equal? So knowing that getting stem cells from another person, from a young newborn's, you know, biological waste tissue, that it may be better for our regenerative potential and the work of healing, but these are from other people, right? Other individuals. So they will carry different DNA from us. And how is that going to work? So first of all, I want to talk about something that's really prevalent in nature, this phenomenon called microchimerism. So the fact that as humans, that we carry other people's DNA around in our body is not new at all. This is happening as long as human species has been around. They happen in other species too. But what happened is that first of all, very obvious source of DNA exchange is during pregnancy. So when the mammal came into existence, right, primates, in order to nurture a baby to such a kind of large size and to fairly, fairly mature state, you need really incredible amount of network of connection because between the mother and the baby with the blood supply and nutrients. So this extensive network, you know, from the placenta, is actually cause of exchange. And that extensive exchange also causes exchange of the fetal cells and the fetal material into the mother. So what they found, one of the studies, 2012, they found out, they did a brain biopsy of 59 women and they actually found out that 63% of them had Y chromosomes in their brain. So what's interesting is that another study had very similar results. And these were from testing female breast tissue. And then they found out that Y chromosomes in women are not just in the brain or the breast, they're also in liver, in lungs, and in heart and in blood vessels. So they're Everywhere in the female body. The reason they test for Y chromosomes is because Y chromosomes is easy to detect, right? You know, doesn't mean that they don't have other females chromosomes in them. But the Y chromosome is so distinct, it's so easy for a testing to, to find out if there are foreign DNA. So they only are finding out chromosomes from males, but doesn't mean that a female doesn't carry chromosomes of other females. So it is so prevalent. And what they realize is that it is not just for women that had given birth to males because there may be exchange of material in the placenta. They also found out that for females who have never had pregnancies, also have Y chromosomes in them. And a significant number, you know, over 20%. So they did a study on Danish girls, never been pregnant. So where did those come from? So they could have come from the fact that the, they may have had a male sibling that had died in the uterus, right? So that they, you know, the male child never survived, so no one knew about it, or the mother had previous male pregnancies that somehow the material got exchanged into the young girl. But also sexual intercourse, that is another source. So the fact that about 60% of women actually have Y chromosomes in them, that's pretty remarkable. Another interesting thing is that the presence of these Y chromosomes actually correlates with lower cancer rate and in that one study also lower incidence of Alzheimer's. So somehow there's a protective effect of having these new DNAs. So there's some thoughts about how there may be evolutionary advantage that we do have, this exchange, this fluidity of DNA exchange, that it gave our species some kind of advantage that the new chromosomes are coming into the female and there's a chance for more genetic changes. So it's really a fascinating topic. So I just want people to understand that just because you have other people's DNA, it doesn't make it that extraordinary because it is part of what happens in nature anyhow. And what's interesting is when you get a tissue transplant from something so young as the first day of birth of a newborn, those cells are so young and so primitive that they have a chance to adapt to the recipient's body much better, much, much better then how they can adapt once this child has matured, even if it's, you know, five, six years old. Because you've all heard about, heard of bone marrow transplant that really is a stem cell transplant. So they get bone marrow from one individual and they match it to the recipient, right. So they do all these HLA matching and what they found out is a perfectly matched bone marrow from one adult to another adult, there's still a chance of rejection. So just because you match it perfectly using what we know as HLA markers doesn't make it completely safe. But they've done research on umbilical cord blood that's completely unmatched. They didn't match it, no matching. And there's less incidence of rejection than a perfectly matched adult sources. So that shows how a young cell can adapt to a new body much. Their behavior is very different from an adult source. So this is something that has not been talked about much at all. And I think it's important for people to know not all the stem cells are the same, not all this, you know, a 20 year old stem cell is going to be different from a 70 year old stem cell, right? A person that has diseases, their stem cell is going to be different from the stem cell from a healthy person. And you know, and a very, very young stem cell like from the umbilical cord or placenta is going to be very different from a stem cell from somebody even at the age of 15. So these are important factors to consider. And we are all kind of a walking universe, right? We have more bacteria DNA in us than our own DNA. So we are a walking little universe that's a composite of many organisms and also other people. So that's why I'm not afraid of getting, you know, IV infusions in myself every three months. I probably have all kinds of DNA floating in me and that's okay. And that has made me younger because of the properties of these cells and then they are adapting to my body so I'm incorporating them. So I hope that gives people a little bit more insight on this questions of other people's DNA and why I am not in fear of it. And I continue to see these incredible results with my patients. So I hope this is helpful and I look forward to seeing you next time.