Clinical trial attempts to cure autism with cord blood

Researchers recently announced the beginning of a FDA-approved clinical trial that uses umbilical cord blood stem cells to cure autism.

Dr. Michael Chez, director of pediatric neurology at Sutter Neuroscience Institute in Sacramento, Calif., said he and his colleagues have been processing the trial for more than a year now, and they have high hopes it will succeed.

- Dr. Michael Chez, director of pediatric neurology at Sutter Neuroscience Institute in Sacramento, Calif.

What we are looking at, is cases that dont have an obvious genetic link, Chez told FoxNews.com. Patients that we presume something went wrong with their brains, which caused a change to autistic features.

Related: Cord blood cures baby's grapefruit-sized tumor

In other words, the trials patients will essentially have no reason to have autism or at least no genetic markers for the disease. This means they must have presumably developed it through another factor, such as the environment or exposure to an infection.

Chez got the idea to treat autism with cord blood stem cells when he observed the cells make a big difference for a little boy who had cerebral palsy.

Related: Cord blood reverses cerebral palsy in Colorado girl

Now, Chez wants to put this boys experience to work for children with autism.

Autism is a developmental disorder that appears in a childs first three years of life, according to the National Institutes of Health. One in 88 U.S. children have it, and it affects one in 54 boys. The condition impacts the brains normal development of social and communication skills sometimes mildly, sometimes extremely.

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Clinical trial attempts to cure autism with cord blood