The blood contains
water and salts along with a protein known as hemerythrin which is extracted
from sea worms. Researchers from Babeş-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca,
Romania, hope it could help end blood supply shortages and prevent infections
through donations. Artificial blood that could one day be used in humans
without side effects has been created in Romania. Dr Radu Silaghi-Dumitrescu
added that it may even lead to the creation of ‘instant blood’ that can be
transported and turns into artificial blood when water is added. Up until now,
efforts to create artificial blood have failed as the fluid was unable to
withstand the chemical and mechanical stresses placed on it. According Dr
Silaghi-Dumitrescu, unlike hemoglobin, hemerythrin remains stable when exposed
to physical and chemical stress. The blood contains water and salts along with
a protein known as hemerythrin which is extracted from sea worms such as this
deep sea Polychaete Annelid. So far the artificial blood has been tested on
laboratory mice who didn't experience any adverse side effects.
Laura Sinpetru said to health nutrition in reports that the researchers hope to roll the artificial blood out in
clinical trials involving human volunteers within a year or two. The work
builds on research by Edinburgh and Bristol University who, in 2011, made
thousands of millions of red blood cells from stem cells taken from bone
marrow. Edinburgh University’s Professor Marc Turner hopes to make a supply of
cells with the O-negative blood type. Scientists invent artificial BLOOD made of water,
salt and protein that works in mice As well as water and salts, blood contains hemerythrin found in sea worms. Could help end supply shortages and
prevent infections through donations. Researchers
claim it may even lead to the creation of ‘instant blood’ that turns into
artificial blood when water is added.
Artificial blood
that could one day be used in humans without side effects has been created by
scientists in Romania. The work builds on research by Edinburgh and Bristol
University who, in 2011, made thousands of millions of red blood cells from
stem cells (pictured) This ‘universal donor’ blood could be given to up to 98
per cent of the population. A supply of safe blood would also be a boon in
developing countries, where thousands of lives are lost to conditions such as
haemorrhages after childbirth. The French have started early-stage human trials with stem cell
blood and other researchers around the world are making haemoglobin, the red
blood cell protein used to ferry oxygen around the body. Ideas being pursued elsewhere include
using haemoglobin taken from cows as a blood substitute. Some 1.6 million Britons give blood
each year. In the UK, stocks can fall during holiday periods, with supplies of
the highly versatile O-negative type particularly vulnerable.
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