How children’s glue fixes a decades old enigma

Bone marrow and stem cell transplantations have become a life-saving treatment for millions of patients suffering from hematologic disorders and cancer (1). Long-term repopulating hematopoietic stem cells (LT-HSCs) in the graft of the donor facilitate the life-long blood cell reconstitution in the recipient (2). LT-HSCs are multipotent adult stem cells that have the potential to regenerate all blood cell lineages (3). They are collected from adult bone marrow and umbilical cord blood as well as from peripheral blood after mobilization from the bone marrow.