Collection, processing, and banking of umbilical cord blood

Abstract

The blood in the umbilical cord and placenta after the birth of a child is comparable to bone marrow for use in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and offered a number of advantages. In the past 20 years, more than 30,000 cord blood transplants have been performed worldwide. Stem cell transplantation for hematological malignancies and genetic disorders however, is an uncommon occurrence. Research performed by several independent laboratories has demonstrated that cord blood also contains a mixture of pluripotent stem cells capable of giving rise to cells derived from the endodermal, mesodermal, and ectodermal lineages. Thus, CB is a readily available stem cell source for use in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications, which are hypothesized to be more frequent events than the need for hematopoietic stem cell transplant. This chapter will review the methodologies for collection, processing, and banking these cells for these future clinical uses.