My group studies biological roles of hematopoietic niches in the origination and development of leukaemia, making effort to address two issues of pathogenesis and therapeutics of the disease. First, how developmental tissue microenvironments provide genome protection for hematopoietic tem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) and how the native lack or pathological loss of protection results in NDA damage and genome instability in HSPCs when encountering endogenous, e.g. metabolic, or exogenous genotoxic agents and leukaemia initiation. Second, how leukaemic microenvironments provide protective niches for leukaemic propagating cells in evading therapy including chemotherapy and immunotherapy. The aims of these studies are to identify and characterise the niche cells and molecules that are involved in leukaemia initiation and development and that can be targeted for disease prevention and future therapies. We have recently identified a leukaemogenic niche in the foetal liver and several therapyinduced niches in the leukaemic bone marrow. In the seminar talk I will share these interesting findings.