The Göttgens group uses a combination of experimental and computational approaches to study how blood cells develop, and how mutations in stem/progenitor cells can cause leukaemia. Over the past 20 years, this integrated approach has delivered several key advancements in the application of genomics to stem cell biology. To begin with, the group illustrated the power of comparative genomics in pinpointing distant gene regulatory elements, followed by the first molecular characterisation of enhancer elements active within haematopoietic stem cells. Subsequent construction of experimentally validated regulatory network models for blood stem and progenitor cells was complemented with comprehensive genome-wide transcription factor maps to provide a holistic view of stem cell regulatory landscapes. Early adoption of single-cell expression profiling techniques illuminated stem cell transcriptional heterogeneity and delivered the first organism-scale single cell maps for gastrulation and early organogenesis. Lastly, the combination of persistent labelling of stem cells with time-series single cell genomics produced the first real-time, quantitative model of in vivo mouse bone marrow haematopoiesis.