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NHS To Give Volunteers "Synthetic Blood" Made In a Laboratory Within Two Years
schwit1 writes: The NHS plans to test artificial blood made from human stem cells in patients and hopes to start transfusing people with artificial blood by 2017. The trials will take place in Cambridge and If successful could lead to the mass production of artificial blood. The Independent reports: "A long-awaited clinical trial of artificial red blood cells will occur before 2017, NHS scientists said. The blood is made from stem cells extracted from either the umbilical cord blood of newborn babies or the blood of adult donors. The trial, thought to be a world first, will involve small transfusions of a few teaspoons of synthetic blood to test for any adverse reactions. It will allow scientists to study the time the manufactured red blood cells can survive within human recipients. Eventually, it is hoped that the NHS will be able to make unlimited quantities of red blood cells for emergency transfusions."
If this is successful, it's nobel prize type stuff. This will save many lives.
Shame it won't work the way it did in that story.
Still, a major step, especially for the rarer bloodtypes. Be nice to not have to depend so much on donors, especially since donors are way more likely to have loathsome diseases transmitted via blood than any lab-grown blood....
"I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
If this actually works, it will completely change the world.
Blood shortages are a huge issue in the medical world. And considerably more so for rarer blood types.
If this works, it will lead the way to making blood no more of an issue than giving someone a standard saline drip.
Eventually it might even pave the way to universal synth blood, or smart blood that targets the host and erodes the unneeded targets for other blood types.
Of course, let's face it, something will go wrong.
Either it will be toxic or zombies. Or super cancer. Even though it can't cause cancer. But nature finds a way to screw us.
Good luck to the researches and vic--- patients.
We as a global community are unable to manage our species own reckless destruction of global biodiverisity. It's true this will ease suffering, but it will have costs in other areas. The more humans are less held back by their own mortality, the more freedom they have to further destroy nature - as history has told us already.
So, you're saying that they've invented True Blood? Then we should expect to see vampires "coming out of the coffin" in a few years.... I can't wait!
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." ~Thomas Jefferson
The trial, thought to be a world first, will involve small transfusions of a few teaspoons of synthetic blood
I know it's England, tradition and all that, but wouldn't syringes make the job easier?
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
The article calls the cells 'artificial' and the blood 'synthetic' - I would argue that the cells are not artificial but merely exogenous since they arise from the same stem cells 'normal' blood comes from and are simply grown external to the body (and are indistinguishable from 'real' RBCs, presumably). An artificial cell would be: 1) a cell-like nano-machine manufactured to carry O2, or 2) a living cell derived from other types of cells that has been coaxed into carrying O2 but was not grown from RBC-producing stem cells.
If the non-RBC components of the blood are not similarly derived or do not come from actual fractionated whole blood or plasma, then I agree that the blood is synthetic.
Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
Why is the National Honor Society concerned with putting synthetic blood in people?
Clearly fiction. No one on slashdot has or has had or will ever have a girlfriend.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
The same thing can happen with another new disease that they don't know about, which in turn means they aren't screening for.
That's why most places (at least around here) also screen for behaviours which could end with blood borne disease spreading.
i.e.: You can't immediately donate blood after having a tattoo done.
Even if you are HIV negative, there might be another unknown disease that could have spread from improperly cleaned tools.
Need to way some time (1 year) before starting giving blood again.
By that time you'll have started showing symptoms and/or news of a new blood borne disease will have been heard.
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]