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Nature 432, 964-965 (23 December 2004) | doi:10.1038/432964a; Published online 22 December 2004

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Developmental biology: No red cell is an island

James Palis1

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Red blood cells develop in the bone marrow in 'islands' nurtured by a central white blood cell. Work in mice shows that the retinoblastoma protein is crucial for these white cells to mature and form islands.

As adults, we make more than 2 million red blood cells (erythrocytes) in our bone marrow every second to replace those lost through normal attrition. The mammalian erythrocyte is unique among the blood cells of the animal kingdom because it discards its nucleus (enucleates) and all its internal organelles before entering the circulation.

  1. Department of Pediatrics and Center for Human Genetics and Molecular Pediatric Disease, University of Rochester Medical Center, Box 703, 601 Elmwood Avenue, Rochester, New York 14642, USA.
    Email: james_palis@urmc.rochester.edu

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