Graph from the Article (IMAGE) Lund University Caption The authors investigated the effects of 15,000 genes on the balance between self-renewal and differentiation of the human blood stem cell (blue box). A deeper understanding would enable us to design better protocols to grow these cells outside the body to improve bone marrow transplants for patients suffering for blood cancers, but also identify novel genes to target specifically during the treatment of leukemia (left & right panels). The researchers discovered that Cohesin, a ring-like protein complex that binds to the DNA in all of our cells, is a tight controller of the self-renewal vs. differentiation balance in blood stem cells. Deficiency of Cohesin causes an increase in self-renewal at decrease in differentiation of human blood stem cells. Credit <I>Cell Reports</I> Usage Restrictions None License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.