Cord blood is being increasingly viewed as an excellent source of stem cells.

Blood from the umbilical cord that is collected after a baby’s birth has been found to have some special properties. Mainly, it has been found that it contains a large number of stem cells in a fresh and healthy condition.

In a human body, the blood cells are produced by the stem cells. So if the cord blood from a baby can be stored typically in a cord blood stem cell banking center, it can later be used to generate blood cells for the same person in case of a need in his or her life.

Further it has also been found that in cases of a matching tissue type, the cord blood from one person can be transplanted to another person and can used as a source of blood cells for the recipient.

This has resulted in a lot of interest in the cord blood and stem cell related studies including its uses, collection, banking, preservation etc.

Currently, cord blood stem cell banking has two faces to it – Public and private banks. In both cases the donation is free and the process of collection , treating and preserving the cord blood and stem cell content is relatively similar.

Once the blood reaches the cord blood stem cell banking center, it will be tested to ensure its eligibility for using in a stem cell transplant operation.

This will include testing the cord blood for a minimum amount of stem cell content, ensuring that the blood is free of infections and other criteria by the banking centers.

Once the cord blood is found to be eligible, certain preservatives would be added to protect the stem cells and the cord blood will be placed in the banking containers.

These are specially made containers where the blood will be stored in freezing temperatures until there is a requirement to take it out.

In a public cord blood stem cell banking center, once the blood is ready for storage, it will be tissue type and the information will be added to the database.

This database will be available for various hospitals and medical centers who can search to find the availability of a particular type of blood in case of a stem cell transplant.

In a private cord blood stem cell banking center, the cord blood will be reserved by the donor by paying a certain storage fee to the banking center. The donor can retrieve the cord blood whenever he or she requires it.