Despite the relative lack of mutations in components of the splicing machinery in pediatric MDS when compared to MDS in adults [2, 32, 33], the physical proximity of SAMD9 and SAMD9L to RNA helicases and splicing factors, like DDX1 and SF3B1, suggests that RNA processing may be a more conserved feature of MDS across the age spectrum than previously recognized. This evidence concerns the gene SF3B1 and myelodysplastic syndrome.