A survey of physicians has found broad support for the position that parents should not bank their newborns' umbilical cord blood in a private blood bank unless another member of the family is at risk for a blood disease that will require a stem cell transplant.

Taking blood stem cells collected from an umbilical cord into the lab and expanding their number before transplanting them to replace a patient's blood supply is as safe as a standard cord blood transplant, researchers reported today at the 50th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology.

When human umbilical cord blood cells (UCBC) were injected into aged laboratory animals, researchers at the University of South Florida (USF) found improvements in the microenvironment of the hippocampus region of the animals’ brains and a subsequent rejuvenation of neural stem/progenitor cells.

A newborn’s chance for surviving a low-risk version of a condition called gastroschisis varies greatly by hospital, according to a study by Johns Hopkins surgeons. Babies with the condition have a hole in their abdomen near the umbilical cord.

Diagnosing a risk of fatal lung disorders may be possible by analysing the umbilical cords of premature babies, according to research published in the online open access journal Genome Biology. Until now, paediatricians have not been able to predict the development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) because of the difficulties with obtaining lung samples.

A study conducted at the University of Granada recommends clamping two minutes after delivery instead of 20 seconds, as it is usually done.The study analyzed the umbilical cords of 151 newborn babies from full-term pregnancies.