Blood transfusion saves lives every day and every hour. But this procedure is impossible without donors, people who are ready to donate their blood to help others.
As the need for blood donation grows, more responsive people are needed. In the near future, this problem can be successfully solved by artificial blood transfusion. A recent experiment conducted as part of the Restore research project showed that this is possible.
Such a transfusion was the first in history. Scientists, based on blood samples from donors from the bank of the National Health Service of Great Britain, have successfully grown artificial red blood cells. The process was complex and quite long.
So, stem cells were first isolated. Then, painstaking work was carried out to differentiate them. What is important is the difference from the original erythrocytes contained in the blood of people. It is that here all the erythrocytes are exceptionally young. Donated blood contains erythrocytes of all ages.
The researchers believe that artificial blood will be more beneficial for those who frequently use blood transfusions for medical reasons. They will be less likely to need to perform this procedure.
Two volunteers who volunteered to help science are now being monitored. They were injected with 10-20 ml of artificial blood.
If the experiment ends successfully, it will open up new perspectives in medicine. In particular, there will be new methods of treatment and care for people with a disease such as anemia.
In addition, the shortage of blood of rare groups and the risks of using blood infected with hepatitis and HIV will disappear.
