TV Horizon - Season 38 Episode 9 : Life Blood Horizon - Season 38 Episode 9 : Life Blood 7.516/10 by 32 users Matthew Farrow was born with a rare and fatal blood disease, Fanconi's anaemia. His family and doctors thought he was going to die. Instead, aged just five, he became the first person in the world to be given a radical new treatment that few believed would work. It saved his life. The treatment was remarkably simple. A small quantity of blood taken from a newborn baby's umbilical cord and placenta was infused into him. Thanks to this cord blood, Matthew Farrow is now a healthy teenager and the treatment he helped to pioneer is giving hope to hundreds of critically ill children around the world. Cord blood contains a large number of blood stem cells, the mysterious factory cells that make all the red and white blood cells our body needs. Stem cells can rebuild a sick child's blood system in just a few weeks, by producing healthy new blood cells. Until Matthew's case, babies' umbilical cords and placentas were just thrown away at birth. Established medical thought said the only source of blood stem cells was the bone marrow and the only treatment for children with advanced blood cancers was a bone marrow transplant. One in three affected children cannot find a suitable bone marrow donor, and there was a desperate need for an alternative. The first doctors to suggest cord blood as an answer were dismissed as dreamers. But pioneering work over the last twenty years, mainly in America, has shown that the tiny quantity of blood contained in a newborn's umbilical cord and placenta is rich in the crucial stem cells. It is now being used to help to treat a broad range of blood cancers and serious genetic blood diseases. However, even its advocates admit that cord blood is no miracle cure. Cord blood is a significant medical breakthrough, but it cannot save everyone who is treated with it. This powerful and moving film follows patients and their doctors as they go through this arduous new treatment. Not all patients survive the transplant. However, for some patients this treatment is a lifeline when there is no option of a bone marrow transplant. Since 1990, over a thousand lives have been saved by this new treatment. Details Casts Posters Images Title Horizon - Season 38 Episode 9 : Life Blood Alternative Titles BBC Horizon First Air Date 1964-02-04 Last Air Date 2024-07-22 Number of Episodes 1169 Number of Seasons 60 Genres Documentary, Networks BBC Two, Casts Plot Keywords , Episodes List Horizon Season 38 :Episode 1 The Mystery of the Miami Circle The Mystery of the Miami Circle 2001-01-25 Horizon tells amazing science stories, unravels mysteries and reveals worlds you've never seen before. Horizon Season 38 :Episode 2 The Missing Link The Missing Link 2001-02-01 Horizon tells amazing science stories, unravels mysteries and reveals worlds you've never seen before. Horizon Season 38 :Episode 3 Killer Algae Killer Algae 2001-02-08 Horizon tells amazing science stories, unravels mysteries and reveals worlds you've never seen before. Horizon Season 38 :Episode 4 Ecstasy and Agony Ecstasy and Agony 2001-02-15 Horizon tells amazing science stories, unravels mysteries and reveals worlds you've never seen before. Horizon Season 38 :Episode 5 Snowball Earth Snowball Earth 2001-02-22 Horizon tells amazing science stories, unravels mysteries and reveals worlds you've never seen before. Horizon Season 38 :Episode 6 Taming the Problem Child Taming the Problem Child 2001-03-06 Horizon tells amazing science stories, unravels mysteries and reveals worlds you've never seen before. Horizon Season 38 :Episode 7 The Mystery of the Persian Mummy The Mystery of the Persian Mummy 2001-09-20 Horizon tells amazing science stories, unravels mysteries and reveals worlds you've never seen before. Horizon Season 38 :Episode 8 The Ape that Took Over the World The Ape that Took Over the World 2001-10-04 Horizon tells amazing science stories, unravels mysteries and reveals worlds you've never seen before. Horizon Season 38 :Episode 9 Life Blood Life Blood 2001-10-11 Horizon tells amazing science stories, unravels mysteries and reveals worlds you've never seen before. Horizon Season 38 :Episode 10 The Death Star The Death Star 2001-10-18 Horizon tells amazing science stories, unravels mysteries and reveals worlds you've never seen before. Horizon Season 38 :Episode 11 Cloning the First Human Cloning the First Human 2001-10-25 Horizon tells amazing science stories, unravels mysteries and reveals worlds you've never seen before.