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."

Comments

Shades of Methuselah's Children

[CrimsonAvenger]

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....

Re:Shades of Methuselah's Children

[andrewbaldwin]

especially since donors are way more likely to have loathsome diseases transmitted via blood

This is not so much of a concern in the UK (it is the NHS in the article)

Two points:

1) All blood used in the UK is extensively screened before use

2) In the UK people are not paid for blood - it's a donation. Thus the case of desperate people selling blood for ready cash doesn't arise. There is also a long questionnaire to be filled in every time you donate (whether it's your 1st or 40th time) which is used to screen out people who have visited countries at risk, engaged in risky sexual behaviour, had injections recently, are on medication .....

Re: wow

[binarylarry]

Yeah but isn't this how most zombie movies start?

A monumental day

[Anonymous Coward]

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.

Re:A monumental day

[wonkey_monkey]

Either it will be toxic or zombies. Or super cancer.

Or toxic super cancer zombies.

Re: wow

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

There is actually a fun(if now somewhat dated looking, just check out all those giant flip phones) British TV series that revolves pretty closely around synthetic blood. Called "Ultraviolet"(not to be confused with the terrible movie by the same name); didn't run terribly long, unfortunately; but worth a watch if you can find it around.

It definitely has the best answer to "How would a SWAT team be equipped if they were dealing with vampires?" that I've yet seen. A life lesson.

Fiction becomes reality

[Totenglocke]

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!

Teaspoons

[wonkey_monkey]

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?

Re:Teaspoons

[Anonymous Coward]

You should see the back streets of London, littered with teaspoons!

Which is it, artificial or synthetic?

[Muad'Dave]

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.