Scientists Seek More Cord Blood Supplies

[tuvor]

WASHINGTON - In 2000, a woman donated the blood from her newborn daughter's umbilical cord so scientists could pull precious stem cells from it and freeze them. Two years later, those donated cells saved Kathy Conway's son from leukemia.

"It came to us in this unassuming little syringe, from a mom who had no idea what she was truly doing," said Conway of Poland, Ohio, whose son Daniel is now a healthy 16-year-old.

Blood saved from newborns' umbilical cords could help treat about 11,700 Americans a year with leukemia and other devastating diseases, yet most is routinely discarded, a panel of influential scientists said Thursday.

To build an adequate supply, the nation will need about 100,000 donations from pregnant women in the next few years, on top of the roughly 50,000 cord-blood donations already in stock at different public cord blood banks around the country, the Institute of Medicine concluded.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=541&e=3&u=/ap/cord_blood_banking

[hedgehog]

1. This is such a great idea that needs to be publicized.

I've often wondered exactly what the difference is between embryonic stem cells and cord stem cells. I freely admit that I'm suspicious that the significant difference is that products from embryonic stem cells would belong entirely to the developers while those from cord stem cells might somehow belong in part to the donors.