Stem cells are primitive cells that can either replicate to form new stem cells or differentiate into specialized tissues that perform a diverse range of functions. This ability is called pluripotence. Cells are biological tissue units. Using material derived from human embryos is fraught with ethical dilemmas so umbilical cord stem cells units are an excellent substitute. Globally, 6 thousand individuals have benefited from this therapy.
In embryos, this cellular material is found during the blastocyst stage, about five days after fertilization has taken place in human beings. The blastocyst contains between 75 and 100 units of tissue. They also exist in the bone marrow in adults and in the umbilical cord of newborn babies. They have tremendous potential to cure a growing number of diseases and have already been used as transplants in patients with diabetes and diseases of the blood.
One of the benefits of using umbilical material is its abundant supply, moral acceptability and ease of harvest. This material is normally thrown away as medical waste. They are better than bone marrow-derived material because they are less likely to be rejected by the recipient and there are no consequences for the donor. Harvesting of bone marrow is an invasive surgical procedure and extremely painful for the donor. They are preferable to embryonic tissue for their reduced potential for the formation of tumors.
In addition to genetic blood disorders and cancers of the blood, they have been used to treat Type 1 diabetes and traumatic brain injury. Research is also in its early stages in deafness and in stroke.
Scientists in Texas have been granted approval from the US FDA to perform clinical studies to determine if children whose cord cells have been banked can successfully use them to promote healing from traumatic brain injury later in childhood. Evidence was presented early in 2011 demonstrating that human cord material can be persuaded to develop along neural cell lines such as neurons and glia. Rat studies have shown that they can be used to facilitate restoration of function in patients following a stroke.
Studies are being conducted in China to find out if this material can be programmed to produce and secrete insulin when they have been infused under sterile conditions into the pancreatic arteries of diabetic patients (Type 1). In vitro stem tissue from newborn babies have already been shown to develop into pancreatic beta tissue and they secreted insulin.
When this cell type was discovered in the inner ear in 2002, this gave rise to hopes that they could be transplanted to cure deafness. Research has focused on utilizing this material to regenerate damaged hair tissue units in the ear. Human beings have fifteen thousand of these hair units at birth. If enough of them are damaged or lost, deafness ensues.
Some animals, like birds, can spontaneously regenerate these essential hairs while human beings cannot. Birds also do not lose their hearing. Researcher Stefan Heller has produced embryonic cells in a test tube that can be programmed to become hair cells and further develop once they have been transplanted into the ears of chickens.
Author Resource:-
Located at Toronto General Hospital, we are a clinic experienced in storage and banking for umbilical cord blood. We are a cord blood clinic that specializes in stem cell isolation, cord blood storage and cord blood stem cells.
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