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| Hematopoiesis |
Haematopoietic stem cells (HSC's)
reside in the medulla of the bone (bone marrow) and have the unique ability to
give rise to all of the different mature blood cell types. HSC's are self
renewing: when they proliferate, at least some of their daughter cells remain
as HSC's, so the pool of stem cells does not become depleted. The other
daughters of HSC's (myeloid and lymphoid progenitor cells), however can each
commit to any of the alternative differentiation pathways that lead to the
production of one or more specific types of blood cells, but cannot self-renew.
This is one of the vital processes in the body.
