Proc. R. Soc. B doi:10.1098/rspb.2008.0506 (2008)

The hierarchy of stages involved as blood stem cells develop into the various blood-cell types does not differ significantly across all species of mammal. But the rate at which these stem cells multiply does; it is faster the smaller a typical adult's mass.

This finding from David Dingli of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and his colleagues confirms that mammals used in experiments make accurate models of the human blood-cell-production process.

Dingli and his co-workers reached their conclusions after building a model of many aspects of blood-cell production across many species of mammal. They compared this with the limited experimental data available.