Archive for March 2010
New Zealand Honorary Knight gives $10M towards US cord blood work
A foundation established by Julian Robertson, New Zealand’s first honorary knight and prominent philanthropist, has given $10.2 million to Duke University in the USA to advance the use of cord blood as a therapy. Robertson, who is renowned for his philanthropy and investment in New Zealand, has over the last 15 years developed two luxury…
Read MoreStem Cells and Cornea Repair
Major news outlets recently reported research demonstrating that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), a specific type of stem cell with unique properties, restored transparency to the cloudy corneas of laboratory mice. The data, presented by researchers during the American Society for Cell Biology Annual Meeting in December 2009, suggests that transplantation of umbilical MSCs could be…
Read MoreCord Blood Banks are Not Stem Cell Clinics
A recent story filed by Agence France-Presse (AFP), a Paris-based news service, offered a very misleading perspective on the current state of cord blood banking as well as the legitimate medical use of cord blood stem cells. In essence, the reporter failed to recognize the difference between overseas “stem cell clinics” offering “unproven cures” and…
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