01 February 2007

Dr Marita Pohlschmidt, Director of Research at the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, said:

"The Muscular Dystrophy Campaign supports the Royal College of Obstetricians' cautious approach to storing umbilical cord blood for non-blood-related diseases. Families affected by muscle disease are always anxious not to miss an opportunity to do the best for their children, but there is currently no evidence to recommend private cord blood banking for these genetic conditions.

"We welcome Virgin's plan to make the bank accessible to researchers worldwide. We hope this will help scientists understand more about whether and how stem cells could be used to develop treatments for a range of muscle conditions."

Further information: