On March 9th, 2009 US President Barack Obama reversed the federal opposition to Stem Cell research, and overturned an order imposed by former President Bush that both financially and legally limited the science. Now the United States is poised to become a world leader in embryonic stem cell research, passing Canada by leaps and bounds. The best Canadian minds will probably migrate south, following the money, but the medical breakthroughs that result could benefit all mankind.

Stem Cells and Disease
Stem cells are thought by most scientists and researchers to hold potential cures for Alzheimer's disease, heart disease, spinal cord injuries, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and even cancer. There’s no question that hundreds of rare immune system and genetic disorders will soon be cured, and perhaps much more.

Pro-Life Opposition to Embryonic Stem Cells

Advances in embryonic stem cell research will benefit us all, but the research is not without debate. Staunch pro-lifers and most pro-life organizations regard the destruction of the blastocyst, which is a laboratory-fertilized human egg, to be the murder of human life. They believe that life begins at conception, and that destruction of this pre-born life is morally unacceptable. Induced pluripotent stem cells might mitigate some of that controversy - these cells were first produced in 2006 from mouse cells and in 2007 from human cells. This has been cited as an important advancement in stem cell research, as it may allow researchers to obtain pluripotent stem cells, which are important in research and potentially have therapeutic uses, without the controversial use of embryos.

Cord Blood Is Much Less Controversial

Private cord blood banks do not store embryonic stem cells. Their business is to preserve newborn baby’s cord blood – up to180mL of blood from a newborn baby that is returned to neonatal circulation if the umbilical cord is not prematurely clamped - from the delivered placenta and umbilical cord of the mother. This procedure does not really affect the mother or her newborn baby, nor does it interfere with the process of giving birth. Therefore, cord blood collection poses no harmful risks to either the mother or the baby.

Cord blood contains haematopoietic (blood) stem cells, and there are already current therapies (eg bone marrow transplant) that use HSC to treat blood/immune diseases and cancers. So the banked cord blood is "useful" whether or not iPS technologies come to fruition or not.

Cord Blood Contains Adult Stem Cells

In 2005, University of Toronto researcher Peter Zandstra developed a method to increase the yield of cord blood stem cells to enable their use in treating adults as well as children. Scientists at the Cord Blood Bank of Canada share the international community’s excitement over the new American position and increased funding policies, because the technologies to be discovered will enable North American families to use their baby’s cord blood stem cells for a wider variety of illnesses. The potential for new therapies and treatments is huge, and it's all possible with cells harvested from biological material that up until this point in history was often thrown away, buried below a new shade tree in the backyard.

It's safe to say, each newborn baby's cord blood could hold the secret to so many of life's mysteries, and end so much pain and suffering without any negative moral implications. With an eye on tomorrow's medicine, this is your family's biological insurance policy.