Players guarding against injury with stem cells

Some elite professional footballers are paying scientists to store stem cells from their own newborn babies for future treatment for any potential career-threatening injuries.

Stem cells are the earliest form of cells, and can be used to regenerate damaged organs and tissue. Freezing the cells are taken from the umbilical cord blood of babies as a potential cure for common ligament and cartilage problems, and that clears the way for future use of stem cells.

At least five pro footballers likely have had their children's stem cells frozen by Liverpool-based CryoGenesis International, one of a number of commercial stem cell "banks" now operating in Britain.

"We decided to store our new baby's stem cells for possible future therapeutic reasons, both for our children and possibly for myself," said one player, who spoke with the condition of anonymity. "If you're prone to injury it can mean the end of your career, so having your stem cells - a repair kit if you like - on hand makes sense."

Source: euFootball.BIZ © Copyright 2006 - All rights reserved.