To Ying C. Song, the small, frozen red bag could be a new kidney, or a liver, or a reprieve from diabetes.

The bag of donated umbilical cord blood, spun down to its stem cell-rich essence, could one day result in "tissue engineering and regenerative medicine," said Dr. Song, the scientific director for Xytex International in Augusta. The company, which provides sperm and egg donation, is branching out with the Xytex Cord Blood Bank.

For an initial fee and yearly storage charge, families can bank the blood, which can be used for a stem cell transplant in the event a child contracts cancer and needs to undergo high-dose chemotherapy.

Cord blood banking has been around since the mid-1990s, and one of the early criticisms was that the chance that a healthy family would end up needing to use the donation was remote, which would not justify the expense. But Xytex points to a study published this month in the journal Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation that pegs the lifetime chance of needing a stem cell transplant as high as 1 in 200.

Those stem cell transplants come with some risks, notably that the patient would have to find a suitable match and run the risk of the body rejecting the transplant if not well matched, Dr. Song said.

"This (cord blood) is much better because it is from a first-degree relative," he said. Also, "in cord blood, you have less immuno-active cells."

More intriguing, he said, is what is just now emerging from the science of regenerative medicine, which seeks to replace damaged or malfunctioning tissues.

In the future, "you can use these cells to culture organs or tissues to replace" what is needed, Dr. Song said. Scientists at Wake Forest University, for instance, recently helped reverse incontinence by injecting the cells into the bladder muscles to restore function, he said.

Others are looking at stem cells injected into the heart to repair damage after a heart attack, regrowing neurons that become damaged or lose their function in Parkinson's disease or after a stroke, Dr. Song said.

"These cells really drive this new field," he said.

Robert K. Yu, a professor at Medical College of Georgia and the director of its Institute of Molecular Medicine and Genetics, is looking at the cells in animals to reverse conditions such as Sanfilippo disease or Huntington's disease.

"I'm really very excited," said Dr. Yu, who was recently appointed to the Georgia Commission for Saving the Cure to look into establishing a statewide cord blood bank. Dr. Yu helped to establish one at MCG, which has collected about 100 samples for research and, potentially, one day for transplants.

"I think the future will be toward this, cell replacement," Dr. Yu said.