Research in the field of human stem cells began in the 1960s. Today, it has become one of the most fascinating areas of biology, and is casting new light on organism development from a single cell, and on cellular turnover in adult tissues. As research progresses in this area, scientists are being able to investigate the possibility of cell-based therapies to treat diseases, which is commonly referred to as regenerative medicine.

Earlier stem cell research was focused on cells derived from human embryos or bone marrow, both of wich have ethical and collection issues. However, blood harvested from umbilical cord is a perfectly natural, ethical, and safe alternative, by providing an extremely rich source of valuable stem cells.

The first successful cord blood transplant was performed in 1988 by Dr Eliane Gluckman on a 5 year old boy suffering from Fanconi Anaemia. Despite being given remote chances of survival, the patient is currently alive and healthy more than 19 years following the initial transplant.

Since that first successful procedure, transplantation of this sort has increased substantially (over 10000 transplants as stated by Dr. Gluckman during the International Society of Cellular Therapy Conference, Berlin, 2006). Nowadays cord blood stem cell transplant is an integral part of treatment for serious conditions of the blood, the immune system, and some types of cancer.

Various forms of leukaemia, anaemia, and autoimmune conditions are just a few examples of diseases treated in this manner, which has now become a standard medical practice. In addition, ongoing scientific research is now concentrating on discovering and developing novel uses for cord blood stem cells.

The following pages of this section allow you to browse Salus Futura's exthensive database of stem cell-based research.