Stem cells for Christmas?

A stem cell company says that it has received numerous enquiries and has sold a number of 'Christmas Gift Certificates' to parents and grandparents of new-born babies who want to store umbilical stem cells for later use.

Smart Cells International reports that it has had more than 1000 enquiries from UK customers in the run up to Christmas - and has sold over 50 gift certificates - from people who want to collect and store the cells contained in babies' umbilical cord blood. The company's slogan is 'cells are not just for life - they're for Christmas'. A number of other companies also offer such a service, in which blood from the new-born baby's umbilical cord is taken at the time of birth and the stem cells within it cryopreserved. The hope is that the cells - being a perfect genetic match to the child - will be available for use in treating the child should it become ill in the future.

Currently, umbilical cord blood cells can be used to treat certain types of leukaemia and anaemia. But scientists believe that stem cells have the potential to be used in the future in conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Embryonic stem cells  (ES cells) are the 'master cells', capable of growing into almost any body tissue - and cord blood may contain some cells with similar potential. However, some see the marketing of the storage of cord blood cells as an unethical practice, particularly when the science is yet to be proven. Professor Tom Baldwin, from the Nuffield Council of Bioethics said that 'it is a dubious practice to take large sums of money from people'.

Shamshad Ahmed, managing director of Smart Cells International, said that it already has nearly four thousand stem cell samples in frozen storage. The company charges £1250 to store the cord blood cells for 25 years - so it is not a cheap present. But Mr Ahmed said that 'the people who have contacted us - primarily current or imminent grandparents - have clearly put great thought into how they can give something very different, but very meaningful. Christmas gifts can be frivolous or luxurious - but whatever they buy, most people's intention is to give something that is long-lasting'. He added that 'stem cells may seem to be an offbeat or even bizarre gift, but, in effect, they are a long-lasting insurance policy that has a once-only purchase date'.

Professor Dame Julia Polak, director of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine at Imperial College London, said that if parents or grandparents can afford it and want to store cord blood cells, there's no problem. But, she said, 'there are no guarantees - there's a lot to be learned first'.