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

This unexpected stem cell resource can save MILLIONS of lives ❤️‍🩹

4 Feb 2026 · 1 min

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1:03

In this brief presentation, Juliet Hummer, founder of Muse Bio, explains how she discovered that menstrual blood contains a plentiful supply of stem cells and why this resource has been largely overlooked. She argues that these cells can dramatically accelerate the development of regenerative medicine, citing a personal stake: her own spinal injury can only be treated with stem‑cell therapy, forcing her to manage chronic pain daily. Hummer highlights the potential humanitarian impact, noting that stem‑cell treatment could raise the survival rate of burn victims—particularly those affected by war—by about 20%. She mentions a collaboration with a Ukrainian stem‑cell scientist working on burn‑injury applications, underscoring the global relevance of the work. Concluding, she frames her pursuit as a calculated risk aimed at delivering high‑impact solutions within the limited time and energy she has on Earth.

Chapters

There are stem cells in menstrual blood, and then when I kept going deeper and deeper into the science of it, I was like, "Why is nobody doing this?" All the pieces are here. So my name is Juliet Hummer, and we are Muse Bio, and we are supplying the most abundant source of stem cells that's going to enable regenerative medicine to advance much faster than it currently is. I have this spine injury that. Isn't treatable by anything except stem cells. So I have to manage my pain every day, carry around this seat so I can sit places. There's a population of victims of war are burn victims. Stem cell therapy can increase the survival rate of burn victims by 20%. I have a friend who's a stem cell scientist in Ukraine doing work specifically for burn victims. She was the one who was like, hmm, maybe they're in menstrual blood. Yeah, I wouldn't have known that I'd be doing this. You have a limited amount of time and energy to do something on Earth, and why not take some risks and try to do something impactful?