Hematopoietic development at high altitude: blood stem cells put to the test

In February 2015, over 200 scientists gathered for the Keystone Hematopoiesis meeting, which was held at the scenic Keystone Resort in Keystone, Colorado, USA. The meeting organizers, Patricia Ernst, Hanna Mikkola and Timm Schroeder, put together an exciting program, during which field leaders and new investigators presented discoveries that spanned developmental and adult hematopoiesis within both physiologic and pathologic contexts. Collectively, the program highlighted the increasing pace of new discoveries and the substantial progress made in the hematopoiesis field since the last Keystone meeting two years ago. In this Meeting Review, we highlight the main concepts discussed at the conference, with an emphasis on topics relevant to developmental biology.