Regular blood donors may acquire beneficial genetic changes to their blood stem cells , according to a major new study.
British and German researchers worked together on the project to study samples from over 200 frequent donors (>100 lifetime donations) and compare them with more than 200 occasional donors (<10 lifetime donations).
The research, published in Blood, identified genetic changes over time in the blood of both groups. These included changes to the DNMT3A gene, which when mutated can increase a person’s chances of developing leukaemia.
However, among frequent donors, the changes in the DNMT3A gene were not in pre-leukemic areas, the researchers report.
Further laboratory studies suggested the mutations in the frequent d...
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