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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.
attacking my vinyl gutters and screaming, "plastic! PLASSSTIC! we must have plasssticcc!!!"
threw 'em a floppy and shut the window.
if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
Perhaps a blue variety for the upper class English?
I don't give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way.
Mark Twain
There are already a few companies making artificail blood in the US. One is Biopure. All of them are waiting either for the completion of clinical trials or FDA approval. The Biopure product has already been approved in other countries.
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
It's called "blood doping" and people already do it.
As for the rest of your question, IANAD either, and I'm curious about that too.
You are in a maze of twisty little relative jumps, all alike.
Yes. The condition is called polycythemia, and most of the incidents involve the increased viscosity of blood leading to thrombus formation-- possibly causing heart attacks and strokes.
The side effects of losing 3 liters of blood before I can get you to the hospital are already well known and likely to be worse than the side effects of artificial blood. The big news here is that it could be stored longer with less refrigeration, so I can carry it on my bus.
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Vampires, rejoice ! Soon, the artificial blood project will be complete !
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I've heard that they did have a problem with the body's immune system flipping out and attacking the new artificial blood cells in early testing, but since they fitted each one of them with a miniature eyepatch and peg leg they've been able to defend themselves quite effectively.
Forget different colours. What we should do is genetically modify cows to produce blood instead of milk. How awesome would that be?
Although it would give a whole new meaning to "clotted cream".
What is is all that is. Isn't that obvious?
Turn-X furiously tapped away at his keyboard, sweat dripping from his brow. Time was of the essence, and he had to get his message out NOW.
The story had just come up over the SlashWire, and unlike the usually dismissive drivel, this one caught his eye. Artificial blood. Something wasn't right here. They were going to investigate artificial blood? He thought back to his high school biology and that time he skinned his knee. Also that one program he saw on Nova. Blood...body...plastic...NO GOOD! My God, what if the body totally flipped out and went all attack mode on the blood! An emergency situation would be totally ruined!
He had to act.
Quickly he hit the reply button. The world needed to know before the scientists made an irreversible mistake. As fast as his fingers could go, he tapped out his response and hit sumbit. Now all he could do was wait. The story was fresh, so he might have caught it in time.
Yes! There it was. The Slashmods had taken notice. A reply. A mod point. But not good enough...not yet. Minutes ticked by, the story was already the second down. Would he make it in time?
Waiting...waiting...
YES! +5 moderation! He sighed. His point was made, and now the world knew. The scientists would roll back their plans and head back to the drawing board.
Turn-X would sleep well tonight.
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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
They used silicon..
but they found that flat square boobs weren't fashionable so they moved to using silicone.
"If you are going through hell, keep going." - Winston Churchill
Nah, I'll stick with natural. This artificial stuff tastes too much like plastic.
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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