The possibility to use cord blood stem cells in clinical transplantations has been recently realized. Cord blood was introduced as an alternative source to hematopoietic tissue
for allogeneic transplantation following the successful use of a cord blood transplant in a child with Fanconi anemia. So far, more than 5,000 umbilical cord blood (UCB) transplants have been performed worldwide. In Korea, 100 cases of cord blood trans plantation have been done at 11 cord blood transplantation centers by November 2003. Another important field to explore is the capacity of stem cells in cord blood to differentiate into mesenchymal progenitor cells, which are capable of differentiating into cells of different connective tissue lineages such as bone, cartilage, and adipose tissues, and thus they
are the best candidate for tissue engineering of musculoskeletal tissues. Although it is still controversial whether UCB contains mesenchymal stem cells, UCB can serve as an alternative source of mesenchymal stem cells to bone marrow and should not be regarded as a medical waste.
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