Stem cell/ bone marrow transplants: Clarification on a controversial topic

Thought about this from another thread.

I had a family member who needed a stem cell transplant, and several times when I talked about what he was going through, I'd get people talking about how they opposed stem cell use because of its use of embryos.

Here's the thing: stem cell transplants don't necessarily use embryonic stem cells. They almost always use hematopoietic stem cells: stem cells from birthed people that can only become blood cells.

When people need a stem cell transplant, it's most often to treat cancer. People tend to think that it's easy to find a donor, kind of like finding someone who could donate blood to you. In reality, two strangers have a 1 in 17,000 chance of being a match.

So, with odds already not being great for finding a match, this mentality of "all stem cells are bad" is really damaging when it keeps people from going on the donor list.

These transplants started to be called bone marrow transplants, too. As a result, people didn't go on the donor list because they pictured someone drilling into their bone to get transplant material.

It's actually getting shots for a few weeks that might make you feel a bit sick, and then donating part of your blood (the free stem cells). No drilling required.

Whether you're for embryonic stem cell use or not, HEMATOPOIETIC cells and bone marrow need to be separated from any stigma.