cell transplantation

we all have bone marrow but do we even needit? yes. very much yes. hey there skeletons hiding inside sacks ofmeat, jules here for dnews! i’m here to talk about bone marrow transplants,but we have to know what bone marrow is in the first place. in our bodies, there are these super cooltypes of cells called “stem cells”. we’ve talked about them before, but in anutshell, these cells have the potential to turn into other types of cell that makes upthe human body.

one of the places we have stem cells is inour bone marrow. bone marrow is soft and fatty tissue thatresides inside your bones and stores the stem cells that ultimately become blood cells. that’s red blood cells, which deliver oxygenthroughout the body, white blood cells, which fight pathogens in your blood, like bacteria,and platelets which help clot up your blood when you get injured. but there are certain diseases that attackthese cells, like multiple myeloma, which is cancer of the plasma cells, and leukemia,which causes abnormal white blood cells. to treat these diseases, doctors often firstgive patients high dose chemotherapy or radiation

treatments, which is intended to kill or disablemost of the damaged, cancerous cells. but now, while patients may no longer havebad cells, they have very few good ones left either. that’s where the bone marrow transplantcomes in; it is an effort to restart healthy cell production. there are three types of transplants: first,autologous, which means the marrow came from the patient’s own body, and was extractedbefore chemo and radiation. another type is an allogeneic transplant,where allo means “other” since another person is donating their bone marrow.

problematically, the marrow has to come fromsomeone with closely matching genes, like a relative. this is because most cells in your body havea particular protein marker telling your immune system that they belong to you. if the donor doesn’t have the same markeras you, your body might consider the new marrow an invader, and with effectively no immunecells left, that’s deathly dangerous. the last, and most controversial type of transplant,is an “umbilical cord blood” transplant. this is where stem cells are removed directlyfrom a newborn child’s umbilical cord and placenta, and because the cells are so immature,they don’t need to be genetically identical

the same way adult stem cells do. but despite the near-miraculous use of thesestem cells to cure blood diseases, there is still one big barrier for many patients: accessto healthy cells. for those who cannot use their own, thereare bone marrow registries. there’s a stigma about how painful it isto donate, but according to the national marrow donor program, bone marrow donation is usuallya surgical outpatient procedure with anesthesia, with no pain during the extraction. doctors use a needle to remove liquid marrowfrom your pelvic bone. yes, i know this looks painful, but apparentlyit typically isn’t.

and don’t worry, it’s only about 1 to5% of your marrow, and it’ll regenerate within just four to six weeks. however, the after effects can include backor hip pain, fatigue, muscle pain, headache, and bruising at the incision site. on the receiving end, the cells from the donormarrow sample are inserted through a direct catheter line into the bloodstream. they find their way to the patient’s marrowand begin to make healthy blood cells. while more than 27 million people are registeredas bone marrow donors, there are significant issues in getting bone marrow to certain ethnicgroups with more diversity in their genetic

line. people of european descent have less geneticdiversity, and register in larger numbers, meaning that there are more matches to bemade. meanwhile, other ethnicities, such as africanand hispanic people tend to register less, and require more unique genetic matches. today, bone marrow transplants save thousandsof people each year, and just in the united states roughly 20,000 such procedures areperformed. but with as many as 70% of those needing atransplant unable to find a matching relative, bone marrow registration is more importantthan ever.

go out and get registered. just like organ transplants, bone marrow transplantscan fail if the donor and the recipient aren’t matched well. but what if there was a way to alter yourimmune system so that you could receive an organ from an incompatible donor? we have a story about how this could happenwith kidneys, right here. got any more questions about medicine? let us know in the comments, and subscribe,and come right back here for more dnews every day.