After a first-round of BMT, mice that were transplanted with CML stem cells from Gdpd3-deficient mice (Gdpd3-deficient CML stem cells) and developed CML disease succumbed more rapidly than recipients transplanted with CML stem cells from WT mice (WT-CML stem cells). Here, GDPD3 is linked to chronic myelogenous leukemia, BCR-ABL1 positive.