BOSTON - June 14, 2007 - Disorders of blood cells may begin in the biological environment where the cells develop, not just with the cells themselves, according to a study from researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Trescowthick Research Laboratories at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre (Peter Mac) in Melbourne, Australia. In the June 15 issue of Cell, the investigators describe finding that genetic alterations in the bone marrow of mice can cause a type of myeloproliferative syndrome, an overproduction of certain blood cells that also occurs in human patients.
