Identification of primitive human hematopoietic cells capable of repopulating NOD/SCID mouse bone marrow: Implications for gene therapy

The development of stem–cell gene therapy is hindered by the absence of repopulation assays for primitive human hematopoietic cells. Current methods of gene transfer rely on in vitro colony–forming cell (CFC) and long–term culture–initiating cell (LTC–IC) assays, as well as inference from other mammalian species. We have identified a novel human hematopoietic cell, the SCID–repopulating cell (SRC), a cell more primitive than most LTC–ICs and …