Very interestingly, human embryonic stem cells have the wonderfulcapacity to differentiate themselves into a very large variety of other celltypes. This is a great source that will help overcome a lot of different humandiseases in the future. A lot of studies have already been done to identifythat and the possible use of it.

Apparently, this differentiating capacity of human embryonic stem cellscan be reproduced in vitro conditions by adding various factors. Stem cells ofgood quality can be found in the umbilical cord blood at birth. The cord bloodcollection and then storage can be done by a stem cells bank or an umbilicalcord blood bank for future use on the new born baby if it ever gets a diseaselike leukaemia or anything else.

You can now find more and more of those banks with some offeringdifferent things like for example to store the stem cells in two physicallyseparated locations to protect you in the event of a disaster.

Whereas bone marrow collection is a long procedure that requiresanaesthesia, cord blood collection is an easy process that is pain free for themother and the newly born baby.

On top of that, stem cells extracted from the umbilical cord blood havea much higher rate of engraftment than stem cells extracted from the bonemarrow, which simply means that stem cells from the cord blood are betteraccepted by the body. Interestingly, if you decide to get your child's cordblood into a stem cell bank or cord blood bank, it appears that it has at leasta one in four chance of matching a sibling which makes it even more appealing.

Using those human embryonic stem cells really represents a challenge inbiology and medicine that could greatly help cure some diseases. As more andmore people work in this area and make discoveries every now and then, stemcells could be widely used in the future. Some research even say that childrenwith heart problems could be saved by getting new heart valves built by usingstem cells taken from their own umbilical cord blood. Recently, a little girlfrom New-Zealand who suffered birth related brain injury was successfullytreated with her own cord blood. Her cord blood was re infused to help her.Those only are a few examples of what could be done in the future.