Abstract
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?
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 121-135 |
Number of pages | 15 |
Journal | Medical Anthropology |
Volume | 42 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 10 Jan 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This research was funded by the Graduate Institute Excellence Scholarship. Fieldwork for this research was supported by the Sylff Association, Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research and Professor Aditya Bharadwaj’s European Research Council project ‘Red Revolution: The Emergence of Stem Cell Biotechnologies in India’ (2013-2018) based at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID) in Geneva. I am immensely grateful to Dr. Uma Ram at Seethapathy clinic and hospital, Chennai for her valuable inputs and for accommodating my many questions. This research could not have been completed without precious inputs from Jiya and Priya, the two counsellors. Thank you, Dr. Srinivasan for pointing me to Seethapathy. It was beyond insightful interacting with Lakshmi, Akila, Shobha, Mala, Devi, and their families at the counselling centre, they provided incomparable insights into their lives. Adi, thank you for the unwavering support, inspiring presence, and constant guidance throughout the research period. A brief on my doctoral thesis is also available online (Panwar 2020a) as an interview moderated by the research office at IHEID, Geneva where I discuss research questions, methods used and highlight major findings resulting from fieldwork. This article is a reworked chapter from my doctoral thesis (Panwar 2020b), a part of which was presented at the Friday Research Colloquium at the Delhi School of Economics (Panwar 2022), University of Delhi to positive feedback. Special thanks to the anonymous reviewers for their detailed comments and suggestions, which helped in methodically structuring my ideas and writing. Finally, I am indebted to James and Rebecca, co–editors at Medical Anthropology for their astute comments, continuous support, and incredible patience in bringing the best out of this article.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.