There is good news for horse owners. It will be possible for horse owners to collect and preserve umbilical cord tissue at the time of birth of foal, which can be later used in stem cell therapy in case of need.

The kit that facilitates collection of umbilical cord tissue and its dispatch to lab are available with Regenerative Medicine Laboratory at University of California Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.

According to Veterinarian Sean Owens, Medical Director of Laboratory, collecting and preserving umbilical cord tissue is favorable for the horse as general procedure of extracting stem cells from bone marrow or fat is painful and harrowing for the horse to go through.

The tissue samples will be frozen and stored for four years. These samples can be retrieved later when the horse requires stem cell therapy for injury treatment or for treatment of ailment. The stem cells are treated for growth and sufficient cells are developed for treatment within two weeks.

The total cost of kit and keeping the umbilical cord tissue samples in storage for four years is 1,625 US dollars.

The new method is replica of babies’ cord blood collection and bank model, developed for probable use in cell-based therapies for human beings.