title: The umbilical cord: a rich and ethical stem cell source to advance regenerative medicine.
abstract: Science and medicine place a lot of hope in the development of stem cell research and regenerative medicine. This review will define the concept of regenerative medicine and focus on an abundant stem cell source - neonatal tissues such as the umbilical cord. Umbilical cord blood has been used clinically for over 20 years as a cell source for haematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Beyond this, cord blood and umbilical cord-derived stem cells have demonstrated potential for pluripotent lineage differentiation (liver, pancreatic, neural tissues and more) in vitro and in vivo. This promising research has opened up a new era for utilization of neonatal stem cells, now used beyond haematology in clinical trials for autoimmune disorders, cerebral palsy or type I diabetes.
authors.affiliation: CTI-LYON, Cell Therapy Research Institute, Parc Technologique de Lyon St Priest, France.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Forraz
authors.forename: C P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: McGuckin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000166:cytology*; D006801:Humans; D044968:Regenerative Medicine / Q000639:trends*; D057905:Stem Cell Research; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*