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Scientists Create Artificial Blood
simm1701 wrote us with a BBC article link on a sort of artificial blood substitute being developed by an English university. The substance is light, can survive at room temperature, and keeps longer than real blood, allowing it to be used as a stand-in in emergency situations. "The new blood is made up of plastic molecules that have an iron atom at their core, like haemoglobin, that can carry oxygen through the body. The scientists said the artificial blood could be cheap to produce and they were looking for extra funding to develop a final prototype that would be suitable for biological testing ... A sample of the artificial blood prototype will be on display at the Science Museum in London from 22 May as part of an exhibition about the history of plastics."
I assume, though it's not mentioned, that it would be type neutral? That in itself would be a big advantage.
Only three things are certain; death, taxes, and apocryphal quotations - Ben Franklin.
Posted Anon because I don't care about Karma. These guys may have invented a new type of fake blood but its not a new thing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PolyHeme
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_substitutes
There was a big stink a while back about FDA trials without consent. The problem is if your in shock and being serviced by first responders you don't really have time to fill out a consent form and the EMT's can't carry real blood with them so synthetic blood is the only option.
Not all plastics cause the body to flip out as you describe it.
I'd be more concerned with where they go after the emergency is over. The spleen collects dead red blood cells... do the artifical ones "die"? What happens to the plastic then?
IANAD, so, can any harm happen with an excess of red blood cells? Maybe this will lead to a future where some could supercharge their blood to maximize oxygen carrying ability.
More Twoson than Cupertino
I attended a lecture by Ray Kurzweil, where he talked about medical breakthroughs that are on the point of revolutionizing human life.
Among other things he talked about blood substitutes, describing how the day is near when you'll be able to take a single deep breath and sit on the bottom of your pool for 15+ minutes, so efficient will be your (artificially enhanced) uptake of oxygen.
He gave a great speech. I recommend his book, "The Singularity is Near."
668: Neighbour of the Beast
My cat got very sick a few years ago after being bitten by a raccoon. When the local vet couldn't diagnose the problem we took him to the College of Veterinary Medicine at Michigan State University. The cat couldn't even stand up and was fading fast so they wanted to give him a transfusion. But when they tried to match his blood type the samples reacted against every donor they checked. So they offered to try an experimental artificial blood.
The artificial blood kept him alive long enough to identify a parasite infection, start him on treatment for the parasites, and let him recover until a natural blood donor could be found and infused. He was hospitalized for over a week but finally recovered and is perfectly healthy now. The interesting side effect is that he bulked up massively since the illness. He's over twenty pounds and extremely muscular. I don't know which artificial blood they used and what other side effects it had, but it seems like it might have more applications beyond just blood replacement for emergencies.
AlpineR
IANAD, but I have worked as a hospital chaplain.
This is a big deal for a lot of reasons. I'd like to point out a few of the less obvious
Jehova's Witnesses have already been mentioned, but add to this list dome forms of Judiasm, branches of Meninite Christianity, and others as divers as the Hmong refuse blood transfusions. Artificial plasma (sometimes called artificial blood) is acceptable as are the use of cell savers. Unfortunately neither of these are effective against the uncontrolled loss of blood, or against blood based diseases that kill of red blood cells. The ability to artificially add O2 capacity and not just volume to the blood will a very welcome thing for these groups. From first hand experience being with families, I can tell you that no matter what the ultimate decision, being caught between needing blood and keeping faith is a heart breaking and guilt ridden experence for doctors, patients and families.
The other issue I want to bring up is the trust of the blood supply. There is an unfortunate and sad history of treating minorities in the US with inferior medicine, which has included infected blood. The rumors that such practices are ongoing persist particularly in the homeless populations. My perception from talking with some of the people who believe these rumors is that artificial blood would be perceived as safer. Perception is often stronger then reality when it comes to patient compliance, and even if this remains a sub-optimal solution when compared to whole blood (my guess is this will remain the case though IANAD) it is better then refusing treatment.
I hope that this is proven to be save and effective.
Strive to make your client happy, not necessarly give them what they ask for
I seem to recall reading about an emergency blood substitute in the late 90s. The odd thing about it was that it wasn't red, but white. There was a picture of a lab rat (albino, of course) that had a complete transfusion and its eyes were silver. Does anyone else remember this?
"We shall grapple with the ineffable, and see if we may not eff it after all." - Douglas Adams
How is it Preston & Child wrote about this stuff years ago? If you read "Mount Dragon", you got a creepy feeling when you read the BBC article...
...we are from the government - we are here to help...
That's the point of the research, I guess. The obvious advantage is that since the stuff is totally synthetic, it is guaranteed to be sterile, hence the long shelf life. But I wonder along with you about them calling the stuff 'plastic'.
Since the functions of a red blood cell (apart from carrying oxygen) include:
The questions that come to mind are:
- If we give this to patients, is it going to overwhelm their blood stream with solute?
- What happens to the iron - if it's released en masse will it result in iron toxicity?
- Presumably the plastic goes to the liver to get broken down. Is it going to cause problems there, such as cancers or compete with drugs?
- Sounds like a complex manufacturing process is going to need to be developed. Will they manage to get it right so that there are no contaminants?
Unfortunately TFA has very little detail on it all.Do it yourself, because no one else will do it yourself. [beta blockade 10-17 Feb]