Stem cell from umbilical cord blood used to treat paralysis

Too late for Christopher Reeve – but stem cell technology is promising great dividends. A woman in South Korea who has not even stood up in 19 years is now able to walk.

The woman could now walk unassisted, the scientists said. “The stem cell transplantation was performed on Oct. 12 this year and in just three weeks she started to walk with the help of a walker,” Song told reporters at a news conference in Seoul. The woman’s legs were paralyzed after an accident in 1985 that damaged her back and hips and confined her to a wheelchair.

The researchers said they isolated stem cells from umbilical cord blood and then injected them into the damaged part of the woman’s spinal cord.