Blood stem cells
After scraping a knee or donating blood, the body replenish the blood cells that are lost by drawing on a small number of semi-specialized hematopoietic stem cells contained in the blood and bone marrow. For decades, scientists have been using this type of stem cells to treat patients with diseases such as leukemia, sickle cell anemia, bone marrow damage, and some metabolic disorders and immunodeficiencies where the body has lost its ability to replenish its own set of healthy blood cell types, from infection-fighting white blood cells to blood-clotting platelets. Preliminary results have suggested that they may also be able to produce other cell types not found in blood, but this is not yet proven.
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