US scientists warn of fraud of stem cell 'banks'

Clinics that offer to "bank" stem cells from the umbilical cords of newborns for use later in life when illness strikes are fraudsters, a top US scientist said here Saturday. Clinics in many countries allow parents to deposit stem cells from their neonate's umbilical cord with a view to using the cells to cure major illnesses that could occur later in life. Irving Weissman, director of the Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at Stanford University in California, said the well-meaning parents were being fleeced by the stem cell bankers. . . . Weissman said these "unproven stem cell therapeutic clinicians" tend to set up shop in countries with poor medical regulations. PhysOrg