One of PC's favorite scientific publications...

[Puma Cat]

Blast from the past: Was just reviewing my CV today, and came across one of the scientific publications I was most proud of... using DNA “human identity" forensic markers amplified with PCR to be able to monitor allogeneic bone marrow transplant engraftment. This was a really big deal, because for the very first time, Bone Marrow Transplantation (BMT) surgeons could quantitatively measure BMT engraftment post-transplant. I did this work in conjunction with Dr. John Hansen up at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, who used this technique for his BMT patients, and we published a paper together. This paper literally laid the foundation for BMT surgeons being able to do monitor the success of bone marrow transplants in a way they could not before. With a...NUMBER, and quantitatively determine the success of the BMT transplant, how well it was taking post-op, and whether another BMT would be required. Pretty cool…

Here's the reference:

Quantitative Determination of Bone Marrow Transplant Engraftment using Fluorescent PCR Primers for Human Identity Markers. Stephen J. Scharf, Anajane G. Smith, John A. Hansen, Chris McFarland, and Henry A. Erlich, Blood Vol. 85, No. 7, pp 1954-1963 (1995).

Those were the days. Gotta love…SCIENCE.