People with family histories of blood disease, for example, could benefit greatly from a private supply of compatible blood cells. Mixed-ethnicity children could also stand to benefit, since this population often experiences difficulty finding genetically compatible donors for organs or bone marrow (Peterson 56).
The sad reality is that despite its many benefits, the use of stem cells from umbilical cords is hampered by a lack of supply. There are private banks that extract and store a baby's umbilical stem cells for private use, but the costs are too prohibitive for most families. For many private banks, parents have to pay $1,300 up front for the extraction, and an additional $95 each year for storage. Also, many parents are simply unaware of the importance of umbilical stem cells. Sprage, a beneficiary of a cord stem cell transplantation, finds it disturbing that "most cord blood ends up as medical waste." (Peterson 56). Furthermore, private banking limits the use of cord blood cells to families, and does not cater to a wider audience.
An obvious solution to this dilemma is public cord-blood banks, which are funded by the government and available for everyone to use. Umbilical cords should be automatically collected at the hospital, while allowing for parents to extract blood for private cord banking if they wish. The collected umbilical cords can then be stored at various public umbilical cord banks across the country, and be retrieved as necessary. A national cataloging system could further ensure that a Missouri resident who needs stem cells could possibly find a genetic match in a public cord bank in California (Smith 88).
Already the Lower House of Congress has signified its agreement, by passing the Bone Marrow and Cord Blood Therapy and Research Act of 2005. This bill is still pending in the Senate. If approved, the bill would establish a system of umbilical cord...
Parents will be allowed to donate cord blood at no cost, and there will be sufficient funds to maintain the quality of the banked stem cells (Smith 88). Because the banks are public, everyone in the country will be assured of equal access, regardless of socio-economic status. The public banking system also ensures a greater genetic diversity of stem cells, a boon for researchers as well as the growing number of mixed-race residents in the United States.
Given all these benefits, parents should therefore be strongly encouraged to support the Bone Marrow and Cord Blood Therapy and Research Act, which is inexplicably facing delays in the Senate. Furthermore, the collection of umbilical cords should be made mandatory for hospitals, in preparation for donation to the public banks that have already been established. Since these cord stem cells are already being disposed as medical waste, it is unlikely that such mandatory collection will generate protest from parents.
In conclusion, the collection of umbilical cords for stem cell research and therapy is a win-win situation for all parties involved. Parents and their newborns will not be harmed in the process, and may even stand to benefit from treatment. Researchers will gain a new supply of pluripotent stem cells, without resorting to measures that generate protests from opponents. To harness this invaluable resources, parents and the government must therefore take an active role in ensuring that public cord banks can provide a ready source for pluripotent stem cells.
Works Cited
Peterson, Holly. "Cord-blood Controversy." Newsweek. August 18, 2003: 56.
Seppa, Natan. "Baby Rescue." Science News. May 21, 2005: 323-324.
Smith, Wesley J. "Umbilical Accord." Human Life Review. 31:4, Fall 2005: 87-89.
Value of Umbilical Stem Cell Research…
