In the procedure, performed at the Chicago institute, a woman takes drugs to stimulate the production of multiple eggs, which are fertilized by her husband's sperm in a laboratory dish. The resulting embryos are tested, and embryos found free of a specific disease and considered good matches for transplant are implanted in the mother's womb. The Nashes went through the process five times before the selection of an embryo that led to Adam's birth. At the University of Minnesota, the Nashes are the first of about a dozen families with genetic diseases working with Dr. John Wagner, a nationally recognized expert in cord blood transfers and Fanconi anemia. The best treatment is a transfer of stem cells found in the umbilical blood of a sibling because the recipient's body is not likely to reject them, Wagner said.
Stem cells can develop into bone marrow cells.