|
Future proofed: Alex Silver and daughter Scarlett. She has banked her daughter's umbilical cord blood in case of any future medical emergencies Today there are about ten businesses in the UK offering to freeze and store cord bloodand industry insiders estimate that up to 100,000 parents have chosen to do so in the UK. The global stem-cell market is forecast to trebleto a staggering￡40 billion by 2017. Cord blood contains embryonicstem cells. They can be made into more specialised cells and can reproduce copies of themselves almost indefinitely. There is currently research into a host ofapplications – from growing new organs to curing paraplegia. In theory, stem cells treat disease by replacing damaged or diseased cells. They are used in bone-marrow transplants to treat leukaemia– but in these cases, donor blood taken in the usual way is used to harvest the stem cells. | 
