What is umbilical cord blood?

Another name for umbilical cord blood is cord blood. This term means both the blood obtained from exact umbilical cord and the blood contained in placenta, although these terms sometimes are used separately in scientific literature. About 97% of umbilical cord blood is generated from placenta and about 3% - from cord. That is why the name placenta blood is more correct. In literature the term “umbilical cord blood” or “cord blood” is used.

Cord blood provides fetus with vital activity during intrauterine development, and is characterized by high content of stem hemopoietic cells. Presence of stem cells in it makes this blood a precious biological material of our days. Origin of the word “stem” is connected with the idea of tree stem, which gives rise for organ and tissue branches; in other words it should be interpreted as the main source of other cells. Stem cells are some kind of “golden reserve” of our organism – these are the cells that may potentially turn into any other cells and tissues of the organism. Depending on their ability to differentiation (turning into other body tissues) these cells can give rise either to the new embryo (for example, monozygotic twins), or definite tissue and definite internal human organ. They play the most prominent role in recreation of new blood cells (hematogenitor ability) and specialized cells of organism tissues, for example, liver, brain cells, nervous tissue.

Stem cells content in umbilical cord blood is 10-12 times higher than in bone marrow.

The sources of stem cells: bone marrow, umbilical and placenta blood, amniotic fluid, placenta, embryonic cells, the own cells of adult human – blood, fat tissue, skin, dental apex, rhinopharyngeal mucous membrane. But the simplicity of isolation of these cells from cord blood and absence of ethic limitations (cord is drawn out from mother’s body together with a child and remains unclaimed) have attracted special attention of transplantologists.

Umbilical cord blood - The cheapest and safe source of Stem cells.