15 years of discoveries on stem cells, largely forgotten in research on the immune system, are opening the way to new approaches. Blood stem cells are at the origin of all blood cells, multiplying and differentiating to produce red blood cells and platelets, but also white blood cells (lymphocytes, macrophages, neutrophils, etc.) They are capable of recognizing certain pathogens directly thanks to specific receptors on their surface.
In 2020, we showed in animal models that blood stem cells possess a form of “memory” that we did not suspect until now.