Cord blood: the future of regenerative medicine?

Cord blood stem cells have been in routine clinical practice for the past 20 years. The development of new therapeutic protocols in regenerative medicine require the use of stem cells and umbilical cord blood is an important and readily available source of cells for these applications. The latest concepts in routine transplantation of cord blood are reviewed followed by the critical role of cord blood stem cells in regenerative medicine research and novel approaches using cord blood as a source of whole blood for transfusion.