Transplanted Stem Cells: Long-Term Dynamics Study

• Scientists have tracked stem cell behavior decades after a transplant, providing insights for new donor selection strategies and transplant success.

• The study reveals that transplants from older donors have ten times fewer vital stem cells surviving the transplant process.

• Some surviving cells also lose the ability to produce essential blood cells for a robust immune system.

• Advanced genome sequencing techniques were used to analyze blood samples from ten donor-recipient sibling pairs up to 31 years post-transplant.

• The team discovered that about 30,000 stem cells survive long-term in transplants from younger donors, compared to 1-3,000 in older donors.

• The transplant process ages the blood system in recipients by about 10-15 years due to lower stem cell diversity.