Researchers develop nanoparticle that can program stem cells while inside the body, avoiding the need for chemotherapy and bone marrow extraction in stem cell treatments.

Middlemen get a bad rap for adding cost and complications to an operation. So, eliminating the go-betweens can reduce expense and simplify a process, increasing efficiency and consumer happiness.

James Dahlman and his research team have been thinking along those same lines for stem cell treatments. They've created a technique that eliminates noisome middlemen and could lead to new, less-invasive treatments for blood disorders and genetic diseases. It sidesteps the discomfort and risks of current treatments, making life easier for patients.

"This would be an alternative to invasive hematopoietic stem cell therapies -- we could just give you an IV drip," said Dahlman, McCamish Early Career Professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering. "It simplifies the process and reduces the risks to patients. That's why this work is important."

Dahlman and a team of investigators from Georgia Tech, Emory University, and the University of California, Davis, published their approach in the journal Nature Biotechnology.

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are like parent cells. Residing in the bone marrow, they produce all types of cells needed to sustain the blood and immune systems. Their versatility makes HSCs a valuable therapeutic tool in treating genetic blood diseases, such as sickle cell anemia, immune deficiencies, and some cancers.

HSC therapies usually involve extracting cells from the patient's bone marrow and re-engineering them in a lab. Meanwhile, the patient endures chemotherapy to help prepare their body to receive the modified HSCs.