Of the total percentage of registered bone marrow donors in the world, the Asian ethnic group makes up only 5 percent.

Because of this shortage, it is difficult for Asian patients who need bone marrow transplants to find a matching donor.

Recognizing the need for Asian bone marrow donors, the Iowa Chapter of the Tzu-Chi Foundation held its First Annual Bone Marrow Recruitment Registry at Iowa State on Sept. 12 in the Gallery Room of the Memorial Union.

About 30 Asian ISU students showed up to donate their blood for the process, said Mary Selby, supervisor of nursing services at the Student Health Center.

“We had a pretty good turnout since [the registry] was held on a weekend along with the Iowa/Iowa State game,” Selby said. “A lot more intended to go, but they were too busy or forgot.”

Huang-Chun Tseng, president of the Iowa Chapter of the Tzu-Chi Foundation, said the ultimate goal of the registry was to increase education and awareness.

“Many people didn’t want to donate because they thought we were going to take the bone marrow out of their spinal cord at [the registry], but that is not how the procedure takes place,” said Tseng, who also is a graduate neuroscience assistant.

“We only draw out 10cc of blood at this time,” he said.

The bone marrow process is similar to donating blood, in that the donors are screened through a series of questions, Selby said.

“After the questions, we decide if you meet the criteria to donate your blood,” she said. “Then one tube of blood is drawn and shipped to a lab with your name, blood type and bar code to list you as a potential donor to someone with leukemia or who might die without the bone marrow transplant.”

Once a match is found, the blood is put through further testing to see if the donor’s human leukocyte antigen type (HLA type) matches that of the recipient, according to the Tzu-Chi Foundation Web page, located at www.tzuchi.org.

About 30 percent of the patients can find a match in their family, yet the other 70 percent must rely on other donors, according to the Web site.

“One of the guys who was registered elsewhere looked like a donor, but then they found someone who matched even closer,” Selby said.

Ethnic background is a consideration when choosing a potential match, Tseng said.

“Everyone has a different genetic map, so it is very hard to find a donor for an Asian through another ethnic group,” Tseng said. “It is important to match an Asian with an Asian or white to white.”

According to its Web page, the foundation has more than 160,000 donors in the database, making the registry the third largest in the world.

“The [Tzu-Chi Foundation] is a big organization with several million members worldwide,” Selby said. “They are very organized and dedicated.”

As of January 1998, the registry had successfully assisted with 80 bone marrow transplants worldwide.

“This is a very committed, worthwhile group,” Selby said. “If you think about what people are going through with leukemia, getting stuck with one needle might not be so bad.”

Tseng said a lot of people have shown interest in the registry, and he is hoping to hold another one early next year.