Amulets and Cord Blood: Understanding Banking and Regenerative Medicine in Chennai, India.

Umbilical cord blood stem cells can be extracted and collected in cord blood banks, potentially to be used for stem cell transplants in the case of blood and related disorders. But some women in Tamil Nadu store dried cord tissue in an amulet to protect their children from harm and to restore health when required. I trace the sakthi (power) of the amulet and its contents by following puberty rites, pre-delivery rituals and food consumed, which the pregnant mother embodies, eventually to be reproduced in an amulet. What makes the amulet and its contents medicine and a symbol of regeneration, just like cord blood stem cells? Why is the amulet a preferred mode of storing cord tissue in Chennai?