Researchers have discovered a laboratory method to expand adult hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) using the SALL4 gene. They have used this method to produce a more than 10,000-fold increase in HSCs derived from normal human bone marrow. Their findings define a new mechanism of stem cell self-renewal, providing a means to produce large numbers of HSCs that could be used to treat hematological malignancies and other blood disorders.

Source: Breakthrough method of stem cell expansion