Stem Cell Research

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Stem Cell Research

INTRODUCTION

A child is born everyday and without realizing it, the material that is routinely discarded after the birth could one day be life saving for that person, someone else in the family, or even a complete stranger. This material is the umbilical cord, and the blood contained within their vessels.

One may wonder, why is this blood so important? Medical research has discovered that the residual umbilical cord blood contains stem cells. These cells are the building blocks that the body uses to create some of the key components of the human immune system, blood and bone marrow. Stem cells are essential for life, they carry oxygen, fight infections and platelets that form clots on injured body parts. So if they are damaged at any point in life, either from a malignant, non-malignant or genetic disease a stem cell transplant may be required for medical treatment. Treatment will give the patient the ability to make healthy new blood.

Until recently, bone marrow – which is the soft substance inside the bones; and peripheral blood – which comes from certain blood vessels, was the only source of stem cells available for transplant use. These choices both require extensive operational procedures and carry a lot of risk for the donor. Umbilical cord blood has been called “An effective alternative to bone marrow transplant therapy” by the New England cord blood bank in Boston (Broxmeyer, 2001).

HOW IT STARTS

Collecting umbilical cord blood begins with a signature – the signed consent of the expectant parents, to give a blood donation from what is left in their newborn baby’s placenta and umbilical cord. They are whisked away immediately to the lab; there it hangs in an absorbent sling, suspended several feet above a lab table. Gravity drains the blood into a sterile collection bag (http://www.caner.umn.edu/page/research/cord2.html).

The collection process is very unpredictable, and is probably the biggest obstacle. Because the amount of blood collected in each birth varies, when it is performed, doctors and nurses hope for a “big collection”, which for them is only about 2 ounces. The more blood collected, the more stem cells there are available to grow new blood in another person. Time is another crucial factor. Research shows that immediately after the cord is cut, blood can start clotting and this reduce...

... middle of paper ...

...d 14 years post-transplant. (http://www.ahsc.arizona.edu/opa/crnap/dec95cnp.htm).

SOME DISEASES WE CAN TREAT THUS FAR:

• Hodgkin’s disease

• Multiple lymphoma

• Osteoporosis

• Sickle cell anemia

• Acute lymphocytic leukemia

• Aplastic anemia

• Juvenile chronic myelogenous leukemia

• Neuroblastoma

• Hunter syndrome

POLITICAL IMPACT

On August 9th 2001, President George W. Bush addressed the nation on the potential of the new therapies to cure diseases with embryonic stem cells. The President publicly commended and called for more federal funding of scientific research using stem cells from sources other than human embryos (www.redcross.org/news/cord/010810bushyes.html). The Red Cross plans to hold President Bush to his promise; they want to eventually operate collection sites in communities across the country and is part of ongoing research monitored by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. There are currently collection sites in Portland, San Diego, Oakland, Detroit, Washington D.C. Great Falls, Montana, Jefferson, Alabama and the University of Massachusetts in Boston. (www.redcross.org)

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