There are many options for making the most of the blood contained in the umbilical cord. Public cord blood facilities exist in several states and countries which serve the public most often as an alternative to bone marrow transplants. However, public cord blood banking is very costly per unit because it is necessary to perform expensive HLA typing (for matching donor to recipient to avoid rejection of the cells by the recipient's immune system) prior to storage in order to maintain a database of available potential matches. Because the cost is so high, many public banks have been forced to refuse donations.
Donating cord blood to research is another option. The therapies of tomorrow are based on research done in labs and clinics today. Research using the stem cells contained in umbilical cord blood has led to great scientific discoveries which benefit mankind and promise to bring more benefit to mankind in the future.
As currently practiced stem cell therapies have improved, as the promise of future therapies has increased, and as public awareness of cord blood banking benefits has risen, private cord blood banking has become much more widely practiced. Private cord blood banking is currently practiced by many families in the U.S. and worldwide. Banking umbilical cord blood can benefit not only the donor child but the siblings and parents as well. The odds of a match among close family members are very high. The benefits of storing the stem cells can be realized today with any of the currently practiced stem cell therapies. In addition to current stem cell therapies, there is still much potential for new therapies in the future as exciting stem cell discoveries unfold as a result of rapid research advances in this field.
