Cord Blood and Stem Cells

There has been a lot of talk in the news recently about thepositive benefits of retaining cord blood, and the need toinvest time and money in stem cell research.Cord Blood is the blood that remains in the umbilical cord andplacenta following birth. Generally, cord blood is routinelydiscarded with the placenta and umbilical cord at the time ofbirth, but now research has shown that the blood in the cord isa rich source of stem cells. This is very important as stemcells are the building blocks of the blood and the immune system.It has become apparent that saving the cord blood in bloodbanks, could save the life of the donor, or members of theirfamily from future diseases. This is possible because stem cellshave the ability to differentiate into other types of cells inthe body, and thus give rise to all the tissues, organs andsystems in the body. By saving these stem cells, treatments canbe developed for diseases such as Parkinson's, Alzheimers andDiabetes - to name but a few.The stems cells in a child's cord blood are genetically uniqueto the baby and its biological family. As a valuable biologicalresource, researchers can use these stems cells to investigatethe potential for future applications, should the child orfamily develop health problems later in life. This has broughtabout the current trend for many parents to invest in their own'health insurance' by storing the stem cells retained at birthin cord blood banks.The process of storing the cord blood, involves drawing theblood from the umbilical cord, using either the syringe or bagcollection method, after the umbilical cord has been clamped andcut. The blood is then tested to determine whether it meetseligibility standards. The red blood cells or plasma are removedas they will not be needed in transplantation. The blood is thenstored in the cord blood unit - either in a vinyl or plastic bagin which it is frozen in liquid nitrogen.There are two types of cord blood banks...First, there are the family banks, which store the umbilicalcord for one's own family use.Second, there are the public donor banks, which store the bloodfor unrelated or non-family use - this can be used for researchand development of cures for many types of health problems.Every parent has the option of saving their baby's cord bloodfor their family use, however, only a small number of peoplebecome eligible to donate their baby's cord blood stem cells.There are three sources of stem cells in the body.1 - Cells from bone marrow.2 - Cells from peripheral blood (this is the blood thatcirculates through the body).3 - Cells from umbilical cord blood.The umbilical blood is significant for research because itdiffers from the other types of stem cells. Due to the structureof the stem cells in the cord blood, they are less likely to berejected by the body when used in a transplant. This allows forthe use of the blood in patients other than the original donorand results in a higher rate of success.Hopefully, some of the points above help to show the benefitsand importance of retaining cord blood, and the need to investtime and money in stem cell research.