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Bone Marrow Function
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After birth, the main function of red bone marrow is hematopoiesis, the continuous production of the cellular components of blood.
Picture a factory that never uses up its original template. When a hematopoietic stem cell divides, one descendant can remain a stem cell while another begins a path toward specialization. Those paths eventually give rise to the different types of blood cells.
In brief
After birth, red bone marrow is the main site of hematopoiesis, the continuous production of the cellular components of blood.
There, hematopoietic stem cells maintain the stem cell pool while producing more specialized descendants that give rise to blood cells.
Picture a factory that preserves its original production line while sending other cells down different paths toward specialized blood cells.
Sources (1)
- OpenStax, Rice University18.2 Production of the Formed Elements, Anatomy and Physiology 2ePublished
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