Stem-cell transplant works on lupus

In the autoimmune disease known as lupus, immune cells fail to distinguish good guys from bad. They attack cells of their own body as if they were foreign. Vital organs can take a beating.

In an attempt to thwart such self-destruction, scientists have removed stem cells—progenitors of many cell types including immune cells—from the bone marrow of seven lupus patients and reinserted them later.