Stem cells obtained from the placenta and umbilical cord have several advantages:
- Collection of the cells involves only a simple procedure without risk to mother or child.
- Once the cells are in storage, they are available quickly and easily if needed for a treatment, without any procedure required (e.g. surgery to obtain bone marrow stem cells, or inducement with drugs to obtain peripheral blood stem cells).
- Stem cells from cord blood are better at tolerating differences between donor and recipient, with minimal graft-versus-host disease (a complication of some transplants in which the grafted cells attack the host).
- There is less risk of transmitting an infectious disease with cord blood stem cells than with transplantation of bone marrow stem cells.
Also, it may be that certain unique types of cells exist only in umbilical cord blood with, as yet, unexplored value in treating disease. With the invention of new techniques for using these cells and the apparently suitable nature of umbilical cord blood stem cells for use in gene therapy, umbilical cord blood may become our most valuable source of stem cells. Indeed, umbilical cord blood may be just what an individual may need, at some point in the future, to have a fighting chance of surviving a serious disease. It is estimated that stem cells from cord blood are 6 to 8 times more powerful in forming new blood cells than are stem cells from adult bone marrow.
The popular media are also beginning to recognize the importance of this new area of research. LIFE magazine listed cord blood stem cell transplants as one of 21 of the most important recent scientific breakthroughs "that could change your life in the 21st century." Certainly, the medical community, too, has an important role in advising expectant parents of the importance of collecting and storing umbilical cord blood stem cells.
