ARTIFICIAL SUBSTITUTE COULD BRIDGE DONOR BLOOD SHORTFALL

University of Essex Team Developing an Artificial Blood Substitute

Scientists at the University of Essex are closer to commercializing an artificial blood substitute that would provide a useful, virus-free alternative for blood transfusions. It is claimed the substitute can be stored for up to two years at room temperature. The artificial blood substitute is a human blood oxygen carrier (HBOC) that imitates a red blood cell in the human body by delivering oxygen throughout the tissues.

Other research in this area has often ended in failure, due to the fact that haemoglobin (the protein in blood cells that carries oxygen) can be toxic to the body if it escapes the protective environment of the red blood cell. The research team at the University of Essex claim they have solved the problem by engineering their HBOC to be detoxified by the body’s natural defences.

While the team has still some way to go before the product is ready to be commercialized, it has already secured patents in the US and Australia and has a patent pending in the EU.