Researchers have launched clinical trials on the use of umbilical cord stem cells to treat apoplexy.

A team from the Catholic Medical Center on Tuesday said it recently obtained a permit from the Korea Food and Drug Administration to transplant mesenchymal stem cells extracted from umbilical cord blood to apoplexy patients.

Mesenchymal stem cells form the cartilage, bones, muscles and nerves and were previously known to exist only in bone marrow. Recent studies, however, have found the cells in umbilical cord blood, prompting new research worldwide and the development of cell-based medicines.