How interesting is this????? (More on cloning)

Have you ever thought the umbilical could something of value?

There are at present at least three commercial units in South Africa who offer mothers the opportunity to store long term the umbilical cord blood stem cells of their babies. These units can then supply the stem cells at a later date, in case that child or his/her siblings develop a condition that could only be treated by stem cell transplantation. In the majority of the current uses, the transplantations are allogeneic and the cells used are obtained from donation. The use of autologous transplantation would be inappropriate in patients with a genetic disease, as the cell of the patient would carry the same genetic defect, a scenario encountered in a number of types of leukemia with a chromosomal translocation. In the case of allogeneic transplantation there is always the risk of “graft vs host reaction” and hence HLA-typing is essential to optimize HLA matching between donor and recipient. The concept of autologous use of umbilical cord blood is still a recent technique and although there is a large amount of speculative information about its possible use, only a few cases have been documented. Most indications for autologous transplantation concern adults who have undergone bone marrow aplasia following chemotherapy or radiotherapy. As stated previously, the aim of the transplantation is to repopulate the bone marrow with own haematopoietic stem cells which will provide a source of blood cells. Such autologous grafts however do not necessarily require one’s own umbilical cord blood stem cells to have been stored at birth. Stem cells can be obtained from one’s own peripheral blood, following stimulation with growth factors, prior to instituting the chemo-radiotherapy, and then transfused later. Recently a significant amount of advertising and marketing of these commercial storage units has taken place in South Africa. Advertising leaflets are being distributed to antenatal clinics, to units specializing in assisted conception and to consulting rooms of medical attendants. A plethora of promotional literature appears in women magazines and on the internet. Doctors as a result, are being continuously confronted by parents who request information or an opinion whether cord blood from their baby should be collected at the time of delivery and transported for storage in privately owned units. Despite all the advertising and marketing campaigns taking place, the impression among some medical attendants is that we know what might be possible in the future regarding stem cell research, but we do not know exactly what will develop.