Stem Cell Research Fact Sheet

- Each year, thousands of patients are diagnosed with diseases treatable by a blood stem cell transplant.
These blood stem cells can come from bone marrow donation, either from a tissue type matched relative
or from an unrelated volunteer donor. 60-70% of patients, however, have no relative that matches their
HLA tissue type. Millions of volunteer donors are listed with the registries around the world in case they
can help by providing blood stem cells to patients who have no matched relatives. An alternative source
of those stem cells is from the placenta after delivery. This blood is rich in blood stem cells, so only about
100 millilitres is enough to transplant.
- The first transplant using blood stem cells from placental cord blood was performed in 1988. The donor
was his HLA-identical sister. The cord blood was collected and frozen at birth. The transplant was
successful and the recipient is alive and free of disease more than 15 years after transplant.
- Collecting blood from the umbilical cord after delivery carries no risk to mother or child. Umbilical cord
blood can be frozen and stored in cryogenic freezers, ready for use when needed. Because the blood stem
cells in cord blood are not developed fully, they carry a much lower risk of graft versus host disease
(GVHD), a condition in which the blood stem cells attack and sometimes kill the recipient. The lower
risk makes it possible to perform transplants with less perfectly tissue type matched cells. However, a
typical cord blood harvest only contains enough stem cells to transplant a child or small adult. Because
the stem cells in cord blood are more primitive than those in marrow, the engraftment process takes
longer with cord blood, leaving the patient vulnerable to infection for a longer period of time.
- In 2004: 7,266 blood stem cell donations and 1,126 cord blood units were provided for patients in
desperate need.

Stem cell research can potentially help treating a range of medical problems. It could lead humanity
closer to better treat and possibly cure a number of diseases:
• Parkinson’s Disease • Spinal Cord Injuries
• Alzheimer’s Disease • Replace or Repair Damaged Organs
• Heart Diseases, Stroke and Diabetes • Reduced Risk of Transplantation
(Type 1) • Stem cells may play a major role in
• Congenital Birth Defects cancer
Better treatment of these diseases could also give significant social benefits for individuals and economic
gains for society.
• Stem cells can help in replacing and repairing damaged organs and tissues within the body due
to cancer, liver cirrhosis, burns, etc.
• It has a potential in transplantation surgery, where a person can be transplanted with an exact
copy of his own organ like a heart.
• Stem cells research may play a major role in finding a permanent cure for cancer.
• The stem cells research may have answers related to cell determination and differentiation for
further genetic studies.

There may be many more potential pros in stem cell research that may not have been uncovered as yet.
However, those against embryonic stem cell research, see this as murder of a human life. But, there are many
adult stem cells present in the human body, that can be tapped for further studies. It is absolutely incorrect to
kill a life before it gets a chance to live. Who knows, scientists may find a way to tap embryonic cells
without damaging or killing embryos. Till then, this debate on stem cell research pros and cons will continue

I think that support of this [stem cell] research is a pro-life pro-family position. This research
holds out hope for more than 100 million Americans.
— Senator Orrin Hatch
In Eve Herold, George Daley, Stem Cell Wars (2007), 39.