Bone Home

Tiny nurturing 'niches' in our bone marrow play home to haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) – cells with the power to transform into blood cells, keeping our blood supply fresh and healthy. Many HSCs first appear before birth – maturing from endothelial cells lining the walls of our early blood vessels before moving to their cosy niches in the bone marrow. Yet in this slice through a chicken’s bone marrow (with its cells highlighted in blue), we see a surprising twist – new HSCs (red) produced from the vessels (green) of the bone marrow itself. This previously unknown 'wave' of stem-cell production may help to prepare bone marrow for welcoming HSCs migrating there from elsewhere in the body. Understanding these ‘new’ steps in growing and nurturing human HSCs may lead to more effective treatments for diseases like leukaemia that affect our precious blood stem cells.

Written by John Ankers

John Ankers

Writer

A former researcher in systems biology, John is now an online biology tutor and professional coach supporting the wellbeing of scientists and NHS professionals. He's writing, too, of course.

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• Image by Thierry Jaffredo and Laurent Yvernogeau, Sorbonne Université
• IBPS, Laboratoire de Biologie du Développement CNRS UMR7622, Inserm U1156, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France
• Image copyright held by Sorbonne Université
• Research published in Nature Cell Biology, November 2019