Generating blood stem and progenitor cells from haemogenic endothelium

Every year, around 25% of acute leukaemia cases involve a faulty version of the gene *RUNX1* — the same gene that embryos rely on to create their first blood stem cells. This project investigates how that gene works during early development. Blood stem cells (HSCs) are the body’s lifelong source of all blood cells, but scientists still do not fully understand the molecular instructions that turn a generic embryonic cell into a specialised HSC. The researchers will map the genes and signalling pathways that *Runx1* switches on or off, and identify what controls *Runx1* itself. Because the same gene is frequently mutated in leukaemia, understanding its normal role in the embryo could reveal what goes wrong in cancer. This is fundamental science. It will not produce a new drug or diagnostic test in the short term. But a clearer picture of how healthy blood stem cells are born — and how *Runx1* orchestrates that process — could eventually help researchers design therapies that coax a patient’s own cells into producing healthy blood, or that correct the faulty gene regulation seen in leukaemia. Similar work on developmental gene networks has previously unlocked targeted cancer treatments.