London, Feb. 2 (ANI): British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson as set up a new baby stem cell bank, and is offering people a hance to store their children's stem cells.

The Virgin Health Bank will keep the cells after they are ollected at the time of birth from the umbilical cord, for a ne-off payment of 1,500 pounds.

Stem cells are used to treat leukaemia and some scientists elieve that in future they could help grow new organs and fight iseases.

Although seven private cord blood banks are operating in Britain, irgin's 10-million pound venture is the first in the world to ffer a public service alongside. A large amount of cord blood ollected here would be availed to hospitals for free to help ave the lives of leukaemia sufferers, and the rest will be kept n storage just for the donor.

Sir Richard feels that Britain is falling behind in the use of ord blood, which is widely used in Japan and the US.

Over the last few years I have received many letters from istraught parents who were unable to find either bone marrow or tem cell matches for their sick children. It is increasingly pparent that there simply are not enough stem cells being ollected, the Scotsman quoted him as saying.

He also promised to give in charity profits generated from his tem cell bank, although his partners in the firm will keep their hare.

Virgin's own staff will not collect the blood, and only one in ive NHS hospitals are expected to agree to collect it for others who ask for it.

Branson's decision to launch a stem cell bank has, however, met ith open hostility from Britain's scientific community, as idwives claiming that there is insufficient evidence to ecommend patients paying for the risky operation to take blood rom their baby's umbilical cord for storage.

Midwives and obstetricians are working at full stretch and any ntervention which places additional burden on them will increase he opportunities for human error, Leroy Edozien, a consultant bstetrician and gynaecologist at St Mary's Hospital, Manchester, aid.

There is currently no evidence to recommend private cord-blood anking for genetic conditions, Dr Marita Pohlschmidt, Muscular ystrophy Campaign's director of research, added. (ANI)