Cells similar to stem cells in foreskin?

[emma1325]

I would love more info on this...

A friend of mine paid a bunch of money to have cord blood banked...

and then had her baby boy's foreskin chopped off. If cells in the foreskin really can be harvested and used in a similar way as cord blood cells, I'd love to know more about it.

[eepster]

Cord blood cells are not the same as foreskin cells.

Cord blood stem cells are only semi-dedicated. From them other types of blood cells can be formed. They can be used for bone marrow transplants.

The cells foreskin are already dedicated as skin, nerve, blood vessel, etc. The only reason they are used in medical lads/factories to grow skin products is b/c they are young vibrant and healthy. One could use any chunk of skin for the things baby foreskins are used for, but since most parents won't agree to let you cut a 4 inch chunk of skin off the babies back they only use foreskin since there are a whole bunch available. Skin harvested from adults could work too, but it is older less vibrant and more likely to have been exposed to decease, sun damage, etc. They are not in anyway the same as cord blood stem cells.

Neither of foreskin nor cord blood stem cells are equivalent to embryonic stem cells that could theoretically be grown into any type of human cell.

[claddaghmom]

emma, are you saying the woman wanted to save the foreskin? Or that you would try to help her see the importance of the foreskin by saying it is equivalent to cord blood cells?

I think the two things she did go hand in hand, unless she had some extenuating reason to bank the cord blood.

[emma1325]

Originally Posted by claddaghmom

emma, are you saying the woman wanted to save the foreskin? Or that you would try to help her see the importance of the foreskin by saying it is equivalent to cord blood cells?

I think the two things she did go hand in hand, unless she had some extenuating reason to bank the cord blood.

No, my friend did not want the foreskin saved. I was under the impression that the cells from the foreskin could potentially be used in a similar manner to those extracted from the umbilical cord. So my thoughts on her saving the cord blood rather than simply leave her son's foreskin attached was "what a waste of money!"

The poster above me corrected me.