Synthetic Blood Gives Hope for Better and Faster Treatments: First Clinical Trials to Begin in 2017

Synthetic Blood Gives Hope for Better and Faster Treatments: First Clinical Trials to Begin in 2017

By Minttu Kansikas

Red blood cells (RBCs) represent one of the key components of our blood. They transport oxygen around the body to tissues and organs and carry away carbon dioxide. Whether it is for patients regularly undergoing blood transfusions for disease treatment, or to replace blood lost in a serious injury or during surgery, the need for safe blood is far greater than the amount of blood available. To date, the only source of blood comes through donations and even though the World Health Organization reports a slight increase in blood donations over the last decade, the British health authorities report a recent decline in the number of new donors. As a result, accessing safe blood in time is an enormous challenge, particularly for patients with complex blood types.

To address challenges such as blood availability and transfusion safety, UK’s National Health Service Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) along with Bristol, Cambridge and Oxford Universities are working towards the production of functional and viable RBCs from human blood derived stem cells. After years of research on the formation and differentiation of RBCs, NHSBT has recently announced that laboratory produced RBCs are expected to be transfused into healthy human volunteers in 2017. The approximate 20 volunteer trial will mark the beginning of the first phase for the clinical trial of synthetic blood. With small volume transfusions, the in vivo survival of laboratory manufactured RBCs will be evaluated in comparison to those obtained from conventional blood transfusions.

The transfusion, transplantation and regenerative medicine research at the NHSBT Research and Development is continuous. Alternative blood sources for the stem cells used to produce the RBCs are being explored. Meanwhile, reliable and efficient methods for manufacturing and expanding the RBCs continuously in bone marrow-like conditions are studied using three dimensional culturing systems with varying growth and scaffolding conditions.

This trial will be the first of its kind in the world and raises hopes for more readily accessible, safe and compatible blood for those in dire need.

References:

National Health Service Blood and Transplant (http://www.nhsbt.nhs.uk/news-and-media/news-articles/news_2015_06_25.asp)

Anstee DJ, Gampel A, Toye AM. (2012) Ex-vivo generation of human red cells for transfusion. Curr Opin Hematol. 19: 163-9. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22406823)

World Health Organization – Blood safety and availability (http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs279/en/)

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