A recent study published in the journal Blood found that frequent blood donors are more likely to have mutations in the DNMT3A gene, which is associated with blood cell production and may promote blood health.

The research suggests that regular blood donation could enhance the fitness of blood stem cells, potentially lowering the risk of developing blood cancer.

NHS Blood and Transplant acknowledged the study's findings but stressed the need for further research due to the complexities introduced by the 'healthy-donor effect' in health assessments.

Researchers caution that it remains uncertain whether these mutations actually prevent cancer, highlighting the necessity for larger sample sizes in future studies.

However, 50% of frequent donors had a distinct type of mutation in their stem cells, compared to 30% of irregular donors, which exhibited different growth patterns in laboratory settings.

Laboratory experiments demonstrated that blood stem cells with the DNMT3A mutation grew 50% faster than unmodified cells when exposed to erythropoietin (EPO), a hormone released after blood loss.

The collaborative research involved teams from the German Cancer Research Center and the German Red Cross Blood Donation Centre, enhancing the study's scope.

Both frequent and irregular donor groups exhibited a similar number of natural genetic mutations, with 217 mutations in frequent donors compared to 212 in irregular donors.

The team aims to investigate the role of these mutations in the development of leukemia and explore potential treatment or prevention strategies.

The research team plans to expand their study to include larger samples and female participants to gain deeper insights into the implications of these mutations.

Dominique Bonnet, a senior author of the study, emphasized the importance of confirming these findings through larger sample sizes to better understand their impact on blood cancer incidence.

As people age, mutations accumulate in bone marrow stem cells, potentially leading to blood cancers like leukemia.