Hematopoiesis

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.