Researchers at the University of Virginia recently conducted the first two stem cell transplants ever performed in Virginia according to the Daily Press. The program used non-embryonic stem cells from umbilical cord blood, taken from placentas discarded after pregnancy, in order to avoid the ethical issues involved with using stem cells from early-stage human fetuses. The outcome of the operation is still not fully known, but the stem cells began producing new cells 14 days after the operation, as opposed to the 24 to 48 days that the process usually takes.
