cord blood donation

My pack from the GP included a form giving information about how and why I might want to donate cord blood for an evaluation project into the use of cord blood stem cells for transplantation into unrelated donors.

Yesterday I read this item on the BBC site which reports on the results of a project in the States suggesting that cord blood is just as effective as slightly mismatched bone marrow when used to treat unrelated adults with leukaemia.

Since I don't plan to cook and eat my placenta, this seems a very valuable use for it.