It is more than 20 years since the first cord blood transplant (CBT) was performed, following the realisation that cord blood (CB), which is normally wasted, is rich in progenitor cells and capable of rescuing haematopoiesis. Since then it has been appreciated that CB is rich in stem cells, and has many other features not the least of which is its ability to rescue the transplanted patient without a rigid need for full human lymphocyte antigen (HLA) compatibility. Also it is easily accessible, relatively free from infections and poses no medical risk to the donor.
 Umbilical cord blood, which contains a rich source of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells, has been used successfully as an alternative allogeneic donor source to treat a variety of pediatric genetic, hematologic, immunologic, and oncologic disorders.Because there is diminished risk of graft-versus-host disease after transplantation of cord stem cells using matched related donors, These scientific advances have resulted in the establishment of not-for-profit and for-profit cord blood–banking programs for allogeneic and autologous cord blood transplantation.

Keywords: Cord blood; Human; Lymphocyte antigenautologous; Allogeneic; Cord blood transplantation; Donor; Receipent.