U-M team identifies gene that regulates blood-forming fetal stem cells

In the rancorous public debate over federal research funding, stem cells are generally assigned to one of two categories: embryonic or adult. But that's a false dichotomy and an oversimplification. A new study adds to mounting evidence that stem cells in the developing fetus are distinct from both embryonic and adult stem cells. Fetal stem cells comprise a separate class. Fetal blood-forming stem cells in an umbilical cord blood behave differently than adult blood-forming stem cells after transplantation into patients. The team has identified the first known gene, Sox17, required for the maintenance of blood-forming stem cells in fetal mice, but not in adult mice.