red blood cell

Fanconi anemia affects the body's ability to repair DNA damage, disrupting the production of vital blood cells such as red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.

Anemia develops when the body lacks enough red blood cells to transport oxygen efficiently.

Folate, also known as vitamin B9, is found in many foods and helps the body form health red blood cells.

They say it does that by increasing the number of red blood cells that contain haemoglobin, which transports oxygen around the body, but this remains a disputed subject and many say further studies are required.

And when mice were injected with these human blood stem cells in the lab, the cells were found to be good at making red blood cells - a positive sign, Dr Encabo said.