Man-made blood is here, transfusions 2 yrs away
PTI | Oct 28, 2011, 05.41AM IST
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LONDON: British scientists have developed artificial blood in the laboratory which they say is just two years away before being used in transfusions and saving millions who die every year due to blood shortages.
Heart transplant, bypass and cancer patients would also benefit from having a guaranteed supply of blood on hand for their surgery, said the scientists behind the "holy grail" of blood research.
According to them, the manmade blood, created from stem cells, would be free of infections that have blighted natural supplies and could be given to almost everyone regardless of blood group, the Daily Mail reported.
In the research, a team from the Edinburgh and Bristol University made thousands of millions of red blood cells from stem cells - " master cells" seen as a repair kit for the body - taken from bone marrow.
But with the average blood transfusion containing 2.5 million million red blood cells, this is not enough. Cells taken from human embryos in the first days of life are easier to multiply in large numbers , but the researchers have so far not managed to make such realistic blood. If they crack the recipe, just one embryo could provide all the cells ever needed for Britain's blood supply, the researchers said.
Professor Marc Turner of Edinburgh University hopes to make a supply of cells with the Onegative blood type. This "universal donor" blood could be given to up to 98% of the population.
A supply of safe blood would also be a boon in developing countries , where thousands of lives are lost to conditions such as hemorrhages after childbirth. Prof Turner predicts that in two to three years, he will be ready to inject a teaspoon of man-made blood into healthy volunteers in the first trial in the UK.
Trials would follow, but the blood could be in routine use in a decade, the researchers said. Within 20 years, it may be possible to produce two million pints of artificial blood a year - enough to satisfy the UK's medical needs.
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LONDON: British scientists have developed artificial blood in the laboratory which they say is just two years away before being used in transfusions and saving millions who die every year due to blood shortages.
Heart transplant, bypass and cancer patients would also benefit from having a guaranteed supply of blood on hand for their surgery, said the scientists behind the "holy grail" of blood research.
According to them, the manmade blood, created from stem cells, would be free of infections that have blighted natural supplies and could be given to almost everyone regardless of blood group, the Daily Mail reported.
In the research, a team from the Edinburgh and Bristol University made thousands of millions of red blood cells from stem cells - " master cells" seen as a repair kit for the body - taken from bone marrow.
But with the average blood transfusion containing 2.5 million million red blood cells, this is not enough. Cells taken from human embryos in the first days of life are easier to multiply in large numbers , but the researchers have so far not managed to make such realistic blood. If they crack the recipe, just one embryo could provide all the cells ever needed for Britain's blood supply, the researchers said.
Professor Marc Turner of Edinburgh University hopes to make a supply of cells with the Onegative blood type. This "universal donor" blood could be given to up to 98% of the population.
A supply of safe blood would also be a boon in developing countries , where thousands of lives are lost to conditions such as hemorrhages after childbirth. Prof Turner predicts that in two to three years, he will be ready to inject a teaspoon of man-made blood into healthy volunteers in the first trial in the UK.
Trials would follow, but the blood could be in routine use in a decade, the researchers said. Within 20 years, it may be possible to produce two million pints of artificial blood a year - enough to satisfy the UK's medical needs.
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