Researcher team creates first comprehensive map of human blood stem cell development

Good news! Amazing stuff! Very impressive! This is quite possibly a breakthrough!

"UCLA scientists and colleagues have created a first-of-its-kind roadmap that traces each step in the development of blood stem cells in the human embryo, providing scientists with a blueprint for producing fully functional blood stem cells in the lab. ...
Blood stem cells, also called hematopoietic stem cells, have the ability to make unlimited copies of themselves and to differentiate into every type of blood cell in the human body. ...

The research team ... created the resource using single-cell RNA sequencing and spatial transcriptomics, new technologies that enable scientists to identify the unique genetic networks and functions of thousands of individual cells and to reveal the location of these cells in the embryo.

The data make it possible to follow blood stem cells as they emerge from the hemogenic endothelium and migrate through various locations during their development, starting from the aorta and ultimately arriving in the bone marrow. Importantly, the map unveils specific milestones in their maturation process, including their arrival in the liver, where they acquire the special abilities of blood stem cells.

The research group also pinpointed the exact precursor in the blood vessel wall that gives rise to blood stem cells. This discovery clarifies a longstanding controversy about the stem cells’ cellular origin and the environment that is needed to make a blood stem cell rather than a blood progenitor cell.

Now that the researchers have identified specific molecular signatures associated with the different phases of human blood stem cell development, scientists can use this resource to see how close they are to making a transplantable blood stem cell in the lab. ..."

UCLA-led team creates first comprehensive map of human blood stem cell development | UCLA 

Mapping human haematopoietic stem cells from haemogenic endothelium to birth (no public access)

Human blood stem cells emerging from specialized endothelial cells in the wall of an embryonic aorta. UCLA scientists’ confirmation of this process clarifies a longstanding controversy about the stem cells’ cellular origin.