Umbilical Cord Blood Research

Where we are now

Right now, the stem cells from umbilical cord blood are being used to treat approximately 75 diseases. Mostly these diseases involve blood or the immune system, but we are also using it to treat some cancers.

Why cord blood stem cells are superior to bone marrow

1) Less risk of GVHD (Graft Versus Host Disease), a condition in which host cells attack the transplant.

2) Allows more people to benefit from transplants. Currently there is only an approximately 25% chance that the 30,000+ people each year who need a transplant of any kind will have a relative who can donate it. With cord blood stem cells, the sky is the limit and there is far less waiting and it is far easier to find a match.

3) Less risk of bacteria and viruses

4) Most likely, cord blood stem cells can generate more kinds of cells than bone marrow can. While we don't know this for a fact just yet, studies suggest this.

5) Cord blood stem cells can be used as gene therapy to treat some genetic disorders. Research is very young here, but early results at the University of California Children's Hospital have been promoising.

Where we are headed

While no one knows this for certain, it has only been since 1988 that French scientists first were able to perform a cord blood stem cell transplant.

What's very exciting is that some companies are experimenting with methods to increase the stem cell population in the nation's cord blood banks. With the extra stem cells to work with, it is very likely we will one day be able to create cells other than blood cells.

Thankfully the future is just beginning with our children and with medical science. Cord blood will be at the forefront of medical technology in the future, and we have only just recently begun to understand its awesome potential.