Sunday, February 25, 2007

Cord blood

Umbilical cord blood the a type of human blood which is rich in hematopoietic stem cells found between placenta and umbilical cord. At he time of a delivery of pergnant women the umbilical cord is detacched from the new born and cord blood is collected. This blood have a good source of stem cells used for transplantation.

There are both public and private cord blood for storage purpose. Private cord blood banks generally store cord blood for earning profit, while public cord blood banks store cord blood for the benefit of general public. In US there is an programe named National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP), under this most of public cord blood banks works. The stem cells which are found in cord blood have more chance of matching family members than bone marrow stem cell. Cord blood stem cell are also more proliferative than other.

Cord blood stem cells are used for the treatment of cancers, immune-sytem and blood related genetic diseases and disorders.

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