Last Updated on: 16th June 2023, 08:25 am
July marks Cord Blood Awareness Month. With around 360,000 babies born every day, the amount of cord blood available has skyrocketed in the past decade. Cord blood banking is becoming an increasingly popular choice for expectant parents for their children to use in the future. So, what is cord blood banking and why is it useful?
For one, stem cells can be harvested from bone marrow, umbilical cord and blood that circulates within the body. Stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood are the most diverse of these options. These have the ability to differentiate into specific cell types within the body and can replace damaged cells, increase blood flow to specific areas, and reduce inflammation.
A major advantage of stem cells obtained from umbilical cords over bone marrow transplants is that the donor does not have to be a perfect match for the stem cells to work, as is the case with bone marrow transplants. The patient can be unrelated to the donor to be a match. At present, there is a growing need for an ethnically diverse range of donors, as minority groups are at risk of not finding the appropriate donors. However this is not an issue when seeking adult stem cell therapy since there is no risk of graph versus host disease (GVHD) when receiving adult mesenchymal stem cells from umbilical cord blood.
Many conditions that can be treated by stem cells are still prevalent despite the ease of donation and research-based protocols designed to combat these diseases. In fact, simply saving the umbilical cord from the birth of a newly born child could make a significant difference to somebody’s life in the future. Stem cells derived from cord blood can be used to treat conditions including ataxia, cerebral palsy, ALS/MND, autism, muscular dystrophy and spinal cord injury among others.
With an extensive history of being pioneers in the field of stem cell production, research and cord blood banking, Beike Biotechnology is committed to continuous research and finding solutions to even more chronic conditions using cord blood banking.