Life blood.

Bone-marrow transplant has long been the only hope in certain kind of anaemia and in leukaemia but it can only be given if a genetically compatible donor can be found. But recent years' research into the properties of umbilical cord blood offer hope of an alternative treatment. Cord blood is rich in stem cells, once thought to belong exclusively to bone-marrow. Prof. Harold Broxmeyer, Indiana University School of Medicine, whose team made this discvoery, found a child who had Fanconi's anaemia, a fatal disease, who was unable to find a bone-marrow donor. The cord blood transfusion succeeded in this case, but when a child with leukaemia was similarly treated his immune system took too long to recover and he died. This treatment is still at the experimental stage. It is not yet suitable for adults because the quantity of blood in an umbilical cord is too small and different sources cannot be mixed. If it could be developed it would have the great advantage of being far more easily available than bone-marrow; also, it does not have to be a perfect match as the immune cells it contains are not sufficiently developed to cause an antagonistic reaction. The treatment has been tried in Britain, with a small number of patients.