Umbilical Cord Blood Stem Cell Expert Says Designer Babies Not Necessary for Treatments

TORONTO, May 10, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The great curative properties of umbilical cord stem cells, the ethical and superabundant stem cells which have treated many disorders, are being unfairly tainted with ethically problematic genetic screening.  In recent weeks scientists in Chicago announced that they are making designer babies for parents who have children in need of stem cell treatment.  The scientists use IVF (in vitro fertilization) to create embryos and then PGD (pre-implantation genetic diagnosis) to weed out human embryos in search of a tissue match for the embryonic children’s already-born siblings.  In an interview with LifeSiteNews.com Dr. Peter Hollands, the Scientific Director of Cells for Life, a private cord blood bank in Markham Ontario, said that the IVF and PGD procedures are not necessary to find tissue matches for patients in need of stem cell treatment.  “Personally, I do not agree with the process,” Dr. Hollands told LifeSiteNews.com.  “If we focused more on collecting umbilical cord blood from most births and storing the samples in a public bank there would then be a suitable match for almost everyone. The ‘designer babies’ would then not be needed as the cord blood banks could easily support the demand for cells for transplantation.”  Dr. Hollands, who holds a PhD in Stem Cell Biology from Cambridge University, noted that the designer baby experiments have also taken place in his native UK.  Dr Hollands stressed however, that in order to find tissue matches for everyone, umbilical cord blood should be harvested after most if not all deliveries in Canada.  He said that while umbilical cord blood stem cells are easier to match than most stem cells, “ethnic minorities or just simply unlucky people do not get a match very easily.”  He concluded, “If we create a national Canadian cord blood bank, collecting samples from most of the deliveries in Canada, then we would have enough cells to treat everyone. This is our aim at Cells for Life and we are currently lobbying parliament on this subject.”  See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:  Chicago Lab Brings Five Babies to Birth for Spare Parts https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/may/04050604.html