Artificial Blood Made In Romania 232
First time accepted submitter calinduca writes "Artificial blood that could one day be used in humans without side effects has been created by scientists in Romania. The blood contains water and salts along with a protein known as hemerythrin which is extracted from sea worms. Researchers from Babe-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, hope it could help end blood supply shortages and prevent infections through donations." Wikipedia's entry on hemerythrin explains its unusual oxygen binding mechanism.
Vlad's Synth Blood Bank, how many I help you? (Score:5, Informative)
I just used my last karma point on the pen-testing post, but I was thinking similarly.
Problem solved (wipes hands) ... (Score:5, Informative)
And thus begins the plot of Daybreakers [wikipedia.org].
The film takes place in a futuristic world overrun by vampires. A vampiric corporation sets out to capture and farm the remaining humans while researching a blood substitute. Lead vampire hematologist Edward Dalton's (Ethan Hawke) work is interrupted by human survivors led by former vampire "Elvis" (Willem Dafoe), who has a cure that can save the human species.
PolyHeme (Score:5, Informative)
Have we forgotten about PolyHeme? It isn't truly artificial (it is made from human hemoglobin), but it is not infectious and is not type specific. And it can be stored for a year at room temperature.
Re:not flaming (Score:5, Informative)
Accepting blood transfusions may not be selecting for the group you think it is.
If you dig around the references here Bloodless Surgery [wikipedia.org] you'll see a small portion of the studies which have shown the benefits of avoiding blood transfusions.
A scientifically minded person would applaud advances in synthetic blood and bloodless surgery, not get hung up on one sub-group of the people it benefits.
Re:not flaming (Score:5, Informative)
Citation needed !
To my knowledge, the new surgical techniques were invented to reduce operation's side-effects (less invasive surgery, less anesthetics, less hospital recovery).
It also reduces the cost of an operation.
I found no relation with Jehovah witnesses, so I'm curious to listen where you heard about this ?
Re: Makes sense (Score:3, Informative)
Haha, funny. I grew up in Romania and fried chicken blood was one of my favorite treats.
Sookie! (Score:4, Informative)
The Sookie Stackhouse (southern vampire series) books (and the "True Blood" TV adaptation) come to mind as well.
For those unaware of the series: They start from shortly after the big reveal, where the vampires came out of the closet after the Japanese invent a blood substitute that provides adequate nutrition for vampires, allowing them to live without hunting people.