Tim DraperFounder and Managing Partne, Draper Associate · I back the ideas that look crazy first

The most abundant source of stem cells already exists - and it’s been ignored this whole time. 🧬

4 Feb 2026 · 1 min

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Menstrual blood contains abundant stem cells that could be collected at home and used for regenerative medicine, potentially dropping treatment costs from $100,000 to $1,000 per patient. The speaker has successfully isolated these cells, differentiated them into tissue types, and bio-3D-printed organs in the lab to treat conditions like heart disease and spinal injury.

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Menstrual blood is the most abundant source of stem cells than any other source that exists currently. We are gonna allow our donors to collect their stem cells in the privacy of their own homes, noninvasively, for 10x lower cost. We would be supplying other companies so that they could advance regenerative medicine. I have a permanent spine injury, but the only cure is stem cell therapy, and the obstacle for me has been that I can't afford it. We've also demonstrated that we can collect the stem cells from menstrual blood. We've differentiated them into different tissue types, and we've bio-3D-printed organs that can be implanted into the body. Cardiovascular disease, heart tissue damage. To get enough cells to treat one person, it costs $100,000 currently. With our technology, we're going to bring down that cost to $1,000 for that amount of cells. Why— why is nobody doing this? Why has this taken so long? Yeah.