Stem Cell Research - Banking Blood Cord - PLEASE HELP?

Question

I was just watching an amazing video about a little girl who was "cured" of her cerebral palsy using her own stored blood cord from birth

http://www.cordblood.com/azfamily1.asp.

My question is, if someone were to have a a syndrome, like Retts Sydrome for example where they had a mutation to a gene (in retts the MECP2 mutation) would this mutation also be in the blood cord that was stored - therefore making it a not good source

Answer 1

I don't believe I've ever heard of stem cells being used for gene mutations.  Stem cell therapy generally helps those who have chronic, acute, or degenerative deseases.  For instance, they can help a diabetic by producing new pancreatic insulin-secreting cells, or produce healthy immune cells for people with immune system deficiencies.  They can be used for people who have leukemia also because they produce healthy blood-forming cells.  Stem cells are basically what we start from at birth, and continue to grow from while we're grown.  A gene mutation is already in the bodies makeup, and cannot be reversed.  Stem cell research is new, so there's no telling what all it can do.