About Cord Blood

What is Cord Blood?

Cord blood is the blood taken away from a newborn baby’s umbilical cord. It is a rich source of unique cells that can help treat a variety of medical conditions and are currently being used in clinical trials for hearing loss, brain injury, autism, Alzheimer’s disease and more.

Umbilical cord stem cells are very powerful cells and are considered to be the ‘master cells’ of the blood and other tissues in the body. They are the most primitive type of cell we have in our bodies and have the ability to transform into other types of cells e.g. skin cells, liver cells, neuronal cells of the brain and blood cells.

Cell Types Found in the Cord Blood

There are three major cell types found in the cord blood such as haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and the very small embryonic-like stem cells (VSELs).

VSELs are a group of cells found in the cord blood that are very small in size, however have maximum regenerative potential and have the ability to become any type of cell in the body. Current research focuses on using VSELs for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, retinal disorders, and cerebral vascular diseases.