a Team of researchers from the Medical school of Stanford University as a result of a completely random observation made a discovery that will likely help to tackle some of the most aggressive forms of leukemia. The discovery was made by Dr. Scott McClellan, with the participation of assistant Professor, doctor of medicine Ravi Majeti.

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a Team of researchers from the Medical school of Stanford University as a result of a completely random observation made a discovery that will likely help to tackle some of the most aggressive forms of leukemia. The discovery was made by Dr. Scott McClellan, with the participation of assistant Professor, doctor of medicine Ravi Majeti.

b-cell lymphoblastic leukemia is the most severe form of leukemia. Thanks to the advent of stem cell therapies scientists over the last decade has learned to win in 85% of cases, but the risk is still significant numbers of people. In this disease the body is formed a lot of immature lymphoid cells, which in their normal state appear in certain quantities and grow in normal lymphocytes - cells of the immune system.

Spending the observation of these cells, McClellan found that some of them are converted into macrophages - cells that help the immune system. Majeti heard about this, I remembered about the old study in mice in which the same cancer cells are able to transform into macrophages using a protein that binds to specific DNA sequences.

Researchers had no choice but to repeat this method on human cells: the result is positive. And growing out of lymphoblasts macrophages include chemical information about defective cells, which may help the immune system of patients to deal with them more effectively.