Our paper in Science “A cell-nonautonomous heme acquisition pathway enables erythroid hemoglobinization under stress” reveals that red blood cells don’t always make their own heme. Under stress, they scavenge it from neighbors. This cell-nonautonomous pathway opens a new conceptual framework for understanding red cell development and points toward novel therapeutic targets for thalassemia and other anemias where insufficient heme supply limits hemoglobin production – April 2026.
Read Commentary in Blood RCI: Borrowed Heme: Rethinking Hemoglobinization – May 2026