Babies saving lives – umbilical cord blood stem cells
Blood can be collected from the umbilical cord of a newborn baby shortly after birth. This blood is rich in cord blood stem cells that can be used to generate blood cells and cells of the immune system. Blood stem cells can be used to treat a range of blood disorders and immune system conditions such as leukaemia and sickle cell anaemia.
Once collected, cord blood can either be stored in a ‘cord blood bank’ for use as a potential source of tissue for transplant for that baby should it ever be required. As this blood originated from the person receiving it, there would be no problem with rejection of the transplanted tissue.
Alternatively, the cord blood may be donated to a general cord blood bank for use by other people in need of a transplant. It is hoped that over time a store of cord blood samples from people of different tissue types may be established. Someone requiring a transplant would be treated with stem cells from the sample most closely matching their own tissue type, thus minimising complications associated with tissue rejection.
A South Korean woman paralysed for 20 years is walking again after scientists repaired her damaged spine using stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood. The woman had been bedridden since damaging her back in an accident two decades ago, but is walking again with the help of a walking frame.