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Bone Marrow

Bone marrow is soft tissue found mainly inside the long bones, vertebrae, and pelvic bones of the body. It is made up of red marrow, which produces red and white blood cells and platelets, and yellow marrow, which contains fat and connective tissue.

People are born with only red bone marrow. As a person matures, the red marrow in many of the bones is replaced by yellow marrow. By adulthood, only about half of the bone marrow is red. Red bone marrow is found mostly in the ribs, breastbone, shoulder blades, collarbones, hip bones, skull, and spine.

Last Revised: November 12, 2010

Author: Healthwise Staff

Medical Review: E. Gregory Thompson, MD - Internal Medicine & Brian Leber, MDCM, FRCPC - Hematology

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