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Hearst Fellow Adnan Chowdhury studies how stem cells respond to infection

Few researchers have studied how hematopoietic stem cells respond to infection—even though these are the stem cells that give rise to the full battery of specialized immune cells, such as T cells and B cells. Adnan Chowdhury is venturing into this uncharted territory as the winner of the Hearst Fellowship, which will launch his early…Continue Reading Hearst Fellow Adnan Chowdhury studies how stem cells respond to infection

What I’m Reading: Rong Lu offers a top pick

In a recent issue of Nature, Fan Zhou, Bing Liu and colleagues present their work on tracing the developmental origin of blood stem cells, also known as hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), in mice. Interestingly, grafts of single HSC precursor cells from 11-day-old mouse embryos showed quite different capacities to repopulate the blood. Analysis of gene…Continue Reading What I’m Reading: Rong Lu offers a top pick

Dose of transplanted blood-forming stem cells affects their behavior

Unlike aspirin, bone marrow doesn’t come with a neatly printed label with dosage instructions. However, a new study published in Cell Reports provides clues about how the dose of transplanted bone marrow might affect patients undergoing this risky procedure, frequently used to treat cancer and blood diseases. In the study, USC Stem Cell researcher Casey…Continue Reading Dose of transplanted blood-forming stem cells affects their behavior