The Long Quest for Artificial Blood

Scientists are making significant advances in developing artificial blood substitutes, with two promising approaches emerging in 2025, the New Yorker reports. At the University of Maryland School of Medicine's Center for Blood Oxygen Transport and Hemostasis, researchers are testing ErythroMer, a synthetic nanoparticle that mimics red blood cells' oxygen-carrying capabilities. Simultaneously, the UK's National Health Service is conducting the first human trials of lab-grown blood cells.

These developments address critical blood shortages - of the 38% of Americans eligible to donate, less than 3% do so regularly. Traditional donated blood also has significant limitations: platelets last only 5 days, red blood cells 42 days, and all require careful refrigeration and blood-type matching. DARPA awarded $46 million in early 2023 to develop ErythroMer, seeing potential for battlefield medicine where traditional blood storage isn't feasible.

The synthetic blood can be stored as a powder and reconstituted when needed. There are still a lot of challenges, the report adds. The lab-grown blood currently costs about $75,000 per syringe compared to around $200 for a pint of donated blood, and production is limited to small quantities.

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[Shaitan]

That's basically what they do in China with the organs but the people would live through blood donation.

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[Pascoea]

but the people would live through blood donation

Not if you do it well enough.

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[Seven Spirals]

I love how the first guy is making some outlandish joke but then you come along and one up him with the truth. OUCH. Nice one.

My inner vampire senses were tingling.

[nightflameauto]

An artificial blood you say? Hmm. Finally, the vampires can come out of hiding.

Fucking Sookie.

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[Cowardly Lurker]

It's Morbin' time!

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[Seven Spirals]

It's a bit like the plot to Blade, except the blood wasn't artificial and the plebs were the cattle/stock for production of the blood, not the consumers.

Why can't we "grow" blood in a lab?

[brunes69]

Hoping someone with more knowledge can explain why, when we can grow *MEAT* in a lab, we can't just "grow" blood, which on the surface seems like it would be a much simpler thing to make.

Re:Why can't we "grow" blood in a lab?

[Cyberax]

To grow meat, you "just" need to coax stem cells into dividing and specializing into muscle cells. Blood is way more complicated, red blood cells can't divide by themselves (they don't have a nucleus with DNA). They are normally produced in the bone marrow, where they go through a complicated maturation lifecycle. Replicating all the biochemical triggers for that is not easy.

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[Tony Isaac]

You mean, like this, from the summary?

the UK's National Health Service is conducting the first human trials of lab-grown blood cells

Well, to answer your question, we can, but...

The lab-grown blood currently costs about $75,000 per syringe compared to around $200 for a pint of donated blood, and production is limited to small quantities.

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[HiThere]

When you grow meat, it's for people to eat rather than inject. Even so it needs a lot of work.
The "meat" (synthetic) that's intended to be implanted (say, replacement kidney) is both extremely expensive and not all that successful.

currently costs about $75,000 per syringe

[Growlley]

and the health care insurance companies will ensure it remains there !

Market

[bill_mcgonigle]

The ban on selling blood ensures a tiny supply. It didn't used to be this way in the US.

Hey, let's make surgeons volunteer too! Charging for doctor services is just "unseemly".

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[GoTeam]

The ban on selling blood ensures a tiny supply. It didn't used to be this way in the US.

Hey, let's make surgeons volunteer too! Charging for doctor services is just "unseemly".

I donate my blood and those ass-hats turn around and sell it for $200! I'm outraged! (stomps away unaware what that $200 really is)

"battlefield medicine"

[iggymanz]

Here's an idea, stop attacking those that didn't attack us so we're not in constant "wars" without congressional approval.

We have almost 2 dozen proxy wars we're in right now that also have american troops in them. let's stop that.

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[ceoyoyo]

Ah, Medical Hypotheses. Great journal. Some notable hits:

The most widely cited article[17] from Medical Hypotheses was published in 1991 by Ronald S. Smith in which he proposed the macrophage theory of depression as an alternative to the monoamine theory of depression.[18][19][20] Other famous articles featured in the journal include the proposal from Jarl Flensmark of Malmö, Sweden, that schizophrenia may be caused by wearing heeled shoes,[21] and an article from Svetlana Komarova of McGill University