When blood stem cells are collected from a donor, they are infused into the patient and move through the bloodstream to the bone marrow where they belong. They then settle in the bone marrow and engraft (begin to increase in numbers and produce red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets), resulting in the donor’s healthy blood stem cells replacing the patient’s diseased cells. This enables the immune system and blood making system to be restored.
As blood stem cells are responsible for making the blood and immune systems, the donor’s blood group and immune system will be transferred to the recipient.
