LifeSiteNews.com
Special to The Interim
Umbilical cords continue to surprise researchers as an abundant source of stem cells. The Feb. 9 Toronto Star reported that a group of scientists at the University of Toronto has discovered what they are calling the “jackpot” of stem cells in a mass of jelly found inside the umbilical cord.
“We’re very excited by this, that’s for sure,” said J.E. Davies, of the U of T’s Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering.
The source, known as Wharton’s Jelly, surrounds the three umbilical cord blood vessels connecting the fetus and mother. The Toronto researchers used umbilical cords donated from full-term pregnancies.
The team hopes that this will spur parents to save their children’s umbilical cords. Stem cells from umbilical cord blood have proven to be as versatile as stem cells derived from embryos. Davies said the stem cells could provide sources of treatment for diseases such as leukemia and lymphoma, which normally require bone marrow transplants.
The University of Toronto findings are to be published this week in the journal Stem Cells. “You can anticipate using these as a source of cells to help re-grow that bone … or connective tissue in the knee … which has been damaged in an accident,” said Davies.
Dr. Peter Hollands, a stem cell biologist from Cambridge University and the scientific director of Cells for Life, one of the few cord blood banks in Canada, has said he cannot understand why scientists are pursuing embryonic stem cells, which have so far failed to produce any cures.
Hollands told LifeSiteNews.com: “If we focused more on collecting umbilical cord blood from most births and storing the samples in a public bank, there would then be a suitable match for almost everyone. The ‘designer babies’ would then not be needed, as the cord blood banks could easily support the demand for cells for transplantation.”
Reprinted with the permission of LifeSiteNews.com (Feb. 9).
