Comparative genomics: fishing nets hemostatic catch

In this issue of Blood, Watkins and colleagues report a detailed analysis of gene expression profiles in human blood cells and precursors that identifies genes involved in lineage commitment and cellular responses as well as new candidates with uncharacterized functions. In our new online series, e-Blood, O'Connor and colleagues report that a functional screen in zebrafish yields evidence that a subset of candidate gene products-each a platelet membrane protein-have previously unrecognized activities in thrombus formation. Together, these studies provide additional support for genomic surveys as tools for cataloging patterns of expressed genes in human hematopoietic cells and for employing zebrafish as a surrogate system for initial examination of proteins of unknown functions as potential modulators of hemostasis.