Searching For a Viable Blood Substitute

January 18th, 2010

Creating and artificial blood alternative to real human blood is a huge business. Personally, I have never really even thought about this concept before, but it definitely peaked my interest when I saw an article discussing the research going into this goal.

In the UK, there has been more than one billion pounds spent over the last 20 years in this quest for a blood alternative. Among those around the globe seeking a viable blood alternative are scientists at the University of Essex who have just submitted a worldwide patent for their engineered hemoglobin.

Over 75 million units of donated blood are given to people worldwide for use in hospitals. However, there are growing concerns about its use in routine operations.

A true blood (Twilight references abound in this article) substitute would be very useful as it could have a long shelf life, be stored away from hospitals, need not be matched for blood group and be guaranteed free of contamination by any present or future viruses. Well…I doubt you can guarantee it, but it certainly would make me feel a heck of a lot safer were I to need a blood transfusion. It certainly would have helped our buddy Boone on the Lost island when Jack had to give him a transfusion after a search for a matching blood type .

The starting materials for blood substitutes have included chemicals used to help make atom bombs, cow blood and blood grown in bacteria. However, to date the world’s scientists have failed to produce a safe alternative to blood. The real world is more Daybreakers than True Blood. Not as easy as making something like a msm supplement.

The reason for this failure, according to Professor Chris Cooper, a biochemist and blood substitute expert at the University of Essex, lies in hemoglobin, the red molecule inside blood cells that carries oxygen around the body. Outside the protective environment of the red cell, hemoglobin can be toxic.

Hemoglobin normally changes color from red to claret as it transfers oxygen around the body. However, when it is damaged the iron in hemoglobin is oxidized (like a car rusting) to produce dysfunctional brown and green products.

“Basically, hemoglobin produces free radicals that can damage the heart and kidneys,” explained Professor Cooper. “The trick with artificial blood is to modify the molecule to be less toxic, but still perform the vital role of carrying oxygen around the body. No one has managed this yet.”