A decade ago, Raquel Espin Palazon discovered that inflammatory signaling pathways must switch on for embryos to produce blood stem cells. The latest work from her lab shows the potential value of keeping those same signals switched off after their initial activation.

The new research from a team led by Espin Palazon and Clyde Campbell, assistant professors of genetics, development and cell biology at Iowa State University, will benefit efforts to develop lab-grown, patient-derived blood stem cells. The promising but work-in-progress advancement in regenerative medicine could eliminate the need for bone marrow transplants to treat blood disorders such as leukemia, lymphoma and anemia with stem cell injections.

The full article, "Pausing biological clock could give boost to lab-produced blood stem cells," is on the Iowa State University News Service website.