Be another grateful mother by cord blood donation

It might sound like a miracle but it is a fact that a woman named Gorrell, a citizen of California, has been saved by the stem cells found in the cord blood of two women. Umbilical cord that acts as a link between mother’s womb and child has been tracked to show the presence of stem cells. After the delivery of a woman, the umbilical cord is clamped and stem cells present there are harvested. These cells then multiply into other cells and cure diseases related to leukemia, lymphoma and some immune disorders. After cord blood donation and bone marrow of the recipients and the donors are matched.

The medical director of National Marrow Donor Program’s Transplant Medical Services, Dr. Willis Navarro says that cord blood banking is not done on a general basis. The reasons quoted behind this are ignorance of women on this subject. It is usually discarded as a medical waste. There can be other reasons like most of the hospitals do not possess equipments for harvesting and then for delivery of cord blood to the public bank for its preservation. According to Dr Navarro, if a woman wants, she can store the cord blood without any hesitation.

One just needs to pay for the cord blood collection kit and ask to collect the blood. However, to make the cord blood reach safely to the cord blood banking unit is the duty of the parents. The health experts say that mostly women do not store their cord blood because doctors do not clamp the cord until placenta has been delivered. The result is by that time there doesn’t remain much of the cord blood to use. Generally, the cord blood is taken when placenta is still in the uterus and it is the last labor stage of the pregnant mother.

Experts say it is just a thing of few seconds, not even minutes, so get the cord as soon as possible. A baby is developed mostly from stem cells provided from cord and parts from the brain cells. A baby deprived of such cells would be having faulty development of brain. Delay of the clamping method can lead to jaundice and polycythemia as published in a medical literature. Many of the medical organizations urge doctors to encourage parents to donate cord blood to public banks rather than private ones so as to make it available for public use.

Gorrell is thankful to those two mothers who donated the cord blood of their babies. She underwent stem cell transplantation in 2009 and is now perfectly fit and fine. Thus doctors these days are encouraging women to donate umbilical cord blood. They want to convince people that public banks are more profitable for donation. They are cheap cord blood cost and thus do not take much money unlike private banks. People usually pay to the banks to keep their sample as insurance for their own child and their dear ones. The chances to use them are however very rare. So by making it available for public use, other parents will also follow such practices and they could also be used to save someone’s valuable life.  They would be thankful as Gorrell is today.

Today’s cord blood banks of Russia are demanding more samples for cord blood transplant

It is not a big issue to help others in need especially when it saves others’ life. USA mothers are more concerned for the safe future of their babies. They are actively participating in cord blood donation and their banking during the birth of their baby. This phase is in actual an early stage of the cord blood banking. During this process the cells are extracted from the umbilical cord at the time of birth of the baby. These are stored under very low temperature conditions that is up to one ninety degree. However people in other countries are not much aware about the significance of donation of umbilical cord.

This is why many countries are still facing lack of cord blood. The blood bank of Russia recently urged for the need of about 300,000 to 400,000 blood samples for the transplantation. It was notified by the Federal Clinical Scientific Centre of Child Hematology, Immunology and Oncology, Deputy Director, Alexei Maschan. Maschan further analyzed the number of advantages provided by the cord blood transplant. They are easily available due to easy extraction from the umbilical cord. On the other hand the extraction from the bone marrow is difficult.

In the current time, there are two banks that are publicly owned for deriving stem cells by baby cord. One is in Moscow and the other is in Samara. Both of the banks have been registered under the umbilical blood bank of Europe which has the collection of some of the typical stem cells. In the present time samples of cord blood are not exceeding ten thousand in each of the bank. It is an amazing fact that the harvesting of cord blood is done within thirty seconds of the birth of the baby. The cord is simply clamped and then there is made an incision.

After this the cord is then transferred to the laboratory for cryopreservation. Further, umbilical cord blood donation does not cause any harm to mother or baby and has only proved beneficial for the scientists for various studies. Surgeons do not need large amount of cord for the storage. The average blood required is seventy-five milliliters or one by third cup. There is a different procedure for the processing of the cord blood. Some go for separation of the red blood cells and discard them while some others do not. It has been found that both of the methods of processing are equally effective in stem cells harvesting.

 The blood bank at Moscow every year receives about hundred of requests for the transplantations but it only provides about seven to ten cord blood samples. Same is the case with Samara cord blood bank.  According to director of Samara clinical center Olga Tyumina the Samara blood bank received hundred requests and has managed six cord blood transplantation. Further the banking process is safe and completely secure. Moreover with advancement in science the practices have further become safer. The banking process would further be useful to cure many blood disorders, genetic and immune disorders. So, feel safe to donate for the healthy future of the baby.

Thermogenesis agreement for cord blood systems with umbilical cord Stem Cells Company

Thermogenesis has recently announced agreement with the Beike, a Chinese stem cell company. Thermogenesis is among the top most supplier of the most innovative products and services dealing in storage of adult stem cells. Beike is the leading stem cell banking and regeneration company of China. 

Thermogenesis Corp. -

Thermogenesis is the leader in developing and manufacturing of the blood processing systems and disposable products. Several systems it offers are- 

• BioArchive system – It is a cryogenic device which is used for baby cord blood banking in more than thirty countries.
• AXP Autoexpress – They are those automated devices that include AXP and MXP and also blood processing for harvesting stem cells. AXP is used for cord blood processing

In addition to these, others are CryoSeal FS system and Res-Q systems. 

Bekie Biotechnology Co. Ltd.-

Bekie has its headquarters in Shenzhen that is in China with its offices in several major cities of the country. The company is one of the most reputed biotechnology companies in stem cell therapies and cell banking. The scientists of the firm are highly dedicated to develop and commercialize stem cells therapies since the year 1999. However, banking operations were started in 2008. At present, the company produces stem cells obtained from bone marrow and cord blood tissue and also from private cord blood banking. It has three cord blood processing and storage units and five stem cells banks. There are eighteen laboratories for cord blood collection and two research laboratories for stem cells.   

With the help of this agreement, Thermogenesis will supply stocks for the fiscal year 2011 of its AXP and BioArchive systems. As per CEO of Thermogenesis, the company is pleased with its agreement with Beike which is known to be a regenerative leader in the Chinese economy. The partnership further has opened new doors for the company to expand its share in the Chinese market. The company would also step into prospective sector of umbilical cord storage with advanced stem cell therapies. With the collaboration of the two companies, both will develop advanced technologies and maximize the automation of the process. 

According to Beike’s CEO, AXP and BioArchive systems are the most important perspectives of the company’s strategy to become technology and quality king. It will become the first bank in China to have recognition for cord blood processing and storage.  Compare cord blood banks all around the universe and one will find that Beike is among the topmost market players. This collaboration will be highly beneficial for both companies.

The umbilical cord blood needs to collected

The umbilical cord blood was thrown away after the child’s birth. Experiments have shown that the Umbilical cord blood is rich in stem cells. The undifferentiated cells, which can differentiate into specialized cell types, are called stem cells. Stem cells can be broadly divided into two parts, embryo stem cells and adult stem cells. Further, there are majorly three types of stem cells; they are Hematopoietic stem cells, Mesenchymal stem cells and endothelial stem cells. Hence, it is very important to collect and preserve the umbilical cord blood cells. The cord is commonly known as the birth cord or the funiculus umbilicalis. This cord connects the developing embryo to the placenta. It is the umbilical cord, which supplies oxygen, nutrient rich blood to the fetus from the placenta. The cord is generally 50 cms long and 2 cms in diameter. This umbilical cord directly connects the central circulation. The blood in the umbilical cord is known as cord blood and it is the source of undifferentiated stem cells.

Researchers have proved that the umbilical cord blood cells can fight various kinds of fatal diseases. Doctors are also encouraging parent to store the umbilical cord blood cells. Parent can even donate the blood. The stem cells are rich in white blood cells. Hence they are at times called the building blocks of the body too. The stem cells in the umbilical cord blood cell help to repair the dead and the dying cells. The umbilical blood needs to be collected within 10 minutes from the child birth. Parent need to inform the health centre with the 34^th week of the pregnancy. Hence, the health center makes every arrangement to collect the umbilical cord blood. The blood is collected in a painless way. Once the baby is delivered, the blood is immediately collected. 75 ml of blood gets collected from the cord. It is really not enough to cure an adult. Still the blood need to the preserve for public use or for private use. Once the umbilical cord blood is collected, it is tested for some detectable germs. If the blood report shows that the blood is right to be preserved then several chemicals are added for the preservation. Once the blood is donated for public use it is preserved in the Public Blood Bank and on the contrary if it is preserved for private use then is stored in a private bank. If the public blood bank collects the blood then it can be used for anyone who is in need of the blood. On the other hand, if the blood is preserved in the private bank then the blood cannot be used without the parent’s permission. The blood can be used for the baby or for any relative in the family. The price to preserve the umbilical cord blood in a private bank is around $ 1000 to $ 2000. The cost may vary from bank to bank.