A future in our past: the umbilical cord for orthopaedic tissue engineering

The umbilical cord (UC) has recently been added to the list of potential cell sources for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine purposes. Although the UC is usually discarded after delivery, UC storage in special tissue banks is becoming an increasingly common procedure. Indeed, the capacity of UC cells to be directed toward different phenotypes makes this tissue an ideal cell source for regenerative medicine in orthopedics and in other fields. In this paper, these issues are presented and discussed, together with the potential of this cell source for allogeneic use. This article also looks at the anatomy of the UC from both the macroscopic and the cellular perspective and considers its extraordinary potential for research and clinical applications.