Chronic Myeloid Leukemia

                      Dr. Peter Nowell began studying leukemia cells in the laboratory, and eventually went searching for someone to do chromosomal research on these cells. He was introduced to David Hungerford, a graduate student who wanted to do a thesis on human chromosomes, but was still in need of cells to use for his research.   
T                    he two researchers were experimenting with cells from various types of leukemia when David noticed a smaller-than-normal chromosome 22 on the cancer cells of 2 individuals with CML. With the far less sophisticated techniques of the time, they were unable to tell what happened to the material missing from the chromosome. It would be 1972 before another researcher; Janet Rowley, MD, would discover the missing piece of chromosome number 22 attached to chromosome number 9, thereby identifying the first known chromosomal translocation