Scientists have discovered a new function of the lungs. Video

The lungs can produce blood cells.

Researchers vyyasnili that light plays a much more complex role in the lives of mammals, including the production of blood.

Such data received, the specialists of the University of California after a series of experiments with mice. It goes against the longstanding assumption that the bone marrow produces all of our blood components.

As it turned out during the experiments, the lungs of mice produce over 50% of the platelets of the body. In the lungs of mice, the scientists were able to detect blood stem cells, which have the ability to recover. Previously, experts believed that stem cells are contained exclusively in the bone marrow.

“This discovery definitely offers a more complex concept of the lungs are the organs not only for breathing, they are a participant in the formation of red blood cells. What we observed in mice suggests that light may play a key role in the formation of blood in the human body,” says one of the researchers, mark R. Looney.

The discovery was made possible thanks to new technology, based on two-photon intravital imaging. This process involves the insertion of green fluorescent protein into the genome of mice. After this, the cells, in particular platelets, began to glow and this allowed the scientists to trace the path of the cells in the body in real time.

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