The Bone Marrow Registry Drive, which took place March 8, 9 and 15 at Great Bend, Ulysses, and Dodge City, respectively, resulted in nearly 80 people signing on to the national bone marrow registry.

In Dodge City, 36 people joined; in Great Bend there were eight; and in Ulysses, approximately 34 registered. Participants had a medical professional take a swab of their cheek to garner DNA information, which will go through a laboratory discrimination process. The individual will then be placed on a list with thousands of others to possibly be matched with someone needing a bone marrow transplant.

Bone marrow transplants are used to treat several diseases of the blood and immune systems. More than 30,000 people each year are diagnosed with diseases that require bone marrow transplantation. Of these, only 30 percent will find a match within their family. All the rest – nearly 20,000 people annually – will have to search elsewhere for a donor.

Bone marrow transplants use the stem cells within the marrow to restore blood cell production to the patient. Father Wesley Schawe, who initiated the drive, said he hopes the drive will dispel the notion that all stem-cell research is bad.