Blood Stem Cells Originate in the Placenta

March 7, 2008

Blood stem cells, which later differentiate into all types of blood cells, originate and are nurtured in the placenta, a U.S. study finds.

This finding may help researchers replicate the specific embryonic microenvironment necessary to grow blood stem cells in the lab so doctors can treat patients with diseases such as leukemia and aplastic anemia, said senior author Dr. Hanna Mikkola, a researcher in the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

“It was a big mystery, where these cells originated. This is the first time we can really say definitively that blood stem cells are generated in the placenta. There’s no more speculation,” Mikkola said in a prepared statement. (US News & World Report)