How Do Bone Marrow Donations Work?

In the medical drama Grey’s Anatomy, surgical resident Izzy agrees to donate bone marrow. In a scene that likely made donation professionals cringe, Izzy grimaced on the operating table as the physician inserted a needle into her hip and aggressively rotated it. In real life, doctors have designed bone marrow donations to be as painless as possible. Most donors give stem cells that are harvested from the bloodstream before the blood is returned to the body. An