What is bone marrow? Bone marrow is soft, gelatinous tissue that fills the medullary cavities, the centers of bones. The two types of bone marrow ...AllyouneedtoknowaboutbonemarrowWrittenbyHannahNicholsonDecember15,2017Whatisbonemarrow?FunctionTransplantsDiseasesDonationBonemarrowisthespongytissueinsidesomeofthebonesinthebody,includingthehipandthighbones.Bonemarrowcontainsimmaturecells,calledstemcells.Manypeoplewithbloodcancers,suchasleukemiaandlymphoma,sicklecellanemia,andotherlife-threateningdiseases,relyonbonemarroworcordbloodtransplantstosurvive.Healthybonemarrowandbloodcellsareneededinordertolive.Whendiseaseaffectsbonemarrowsothatitcannolongerfunctioneffectively,amarroworcordbloodtransplantcouldbethebesttreatmentoption;forsomepatientsitistheonlypotentialcure.FastfactsonbonemarrowHerearesomekeypointsaboutbonemarrow.Moredetailisinthemainarticle.Bonemarrowproduces200billionnewredbloodcellseveryday,alongwithwhitebloodcellsandplatelets.Bonemarrowcontainsmesenchymalandhematopoieticstemcells.Around10,000peopleintheUSarediagnosedeachyearwithdiseasesthatrequirebonemarrowtransplants.Severaldiseasesposeathreattobonemarrowandpreventbonemarrowfromturningstemcellsintoessentialcells.Whatisbonemarrow?Bonemarrowissoft,gelatinoustissuethatfillsthemedullarycavities,thecentersofbones.Thetwotypesofbonemarrowareredbonemarrow,knownasmyeloidtissue,andyellowbonemarrow,orfattytissue.1Longbonecross-sectionshowingbothredandyellowbonemarrow.Bothtypesofbonemarrowareenrichedwithbloodvesselsandcapillaries.2Bonemarrowmakesmorethan200billionnewbloodcellseveryday.8Mostbloodcellsinthebodydevelopfromcellsinthebonemarrow.5BonemarrowstemcellsThebonemarrowcontainstwotypesofstemcells,mesenchymalandhematopoietic.Redbonemarrowconsistsofadelicate,highlyvascularfibroustissuecontaininghematopoieticstemcells.Theseareblood-formingstemcells.Yellowbonemarrowcontainsmesenchymalstemcells,alsoknownasmarrowstromalcells.Theseproducefat,cartilage,andbone.4Stemcellsareimmaturecellsthatcanturnintoanumberofdifferenttyp