Amidst Controversy, Where They Go: Blood Stem Cell Storage

Blood stem cell storage has two sides, and there is a big stem cell research controversy about using embryonic stem cells for research. Some parents may choose to have these cells from the umbilical cord of their newborn child saved and stored, in a process known as cord blood stem cell banking, and this is done in case the child ever needs stem cells at a future date because of an illness or medical condition. Blood stem cell storage is not a complex process, and even though who are on the against side of the stem cell research controversy do not believe it is wrong for parents to practice cord blood stem cell banking, because no embryos are destroyed to gain these cells.

Blood stem cell storage begins with the cord blood being collected. Once your child is born and the cord has been clamped off and cut, the collection bag needle is inserted into the umbilical cord while it is still attached to the mother, but there is no pain with the process. Around two cups of the blood from the cord is taken. Once the sample is collected it is shipped to the lab using FedEx or another courier service. The blood can not be refrigerated and must stay at room temperature. The next step with blood stem cell storage is actually storing the blood after it reaches the lab. The blood is preserved in a method that does not harm or degrade it, and then the blood is cryogenically preserved. It is the stored in locked rooms with special tanks, at a very low temperature of close to minus two hundred degrees.

The information supplied in this article is not to be considered as medical advice and is for educational purposes only.