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Searching in vein: a history of artificial blood

The most successful strategy has been a pursuit of hemoglobin-based blood substitutes, or HBOCs as they are called, that mimic the oxygen transport functioning of red blood cells by synthetically creating and packaging human or cow hemoglobin. HBOCs though, have a perilous past. In the 1930s, researchers first experimented with them in cats by completely replacing the animals’ blood with a cell-free hemoglobin solution. The treatment wreaked renal havoc on their feline subjects, but efforts continued, and in 1949 a group even performed human clinical trials of this artificial hemoglobin solution; the trial led to serious kidney dysfunction in 5 of the 14 patient subjects. By the 1980s a handful…

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 There will be blood

Is mimicking the cells that carry hemoglobin the key to a blood substitute? The need for blood substitutes, however, survives. And last year in a downtown Baltimore laboratory, a white rabbit embodied the latest hope.

Articles of Interest

Artificial Blood – a big step in saving lives

In the future, lab-grown synthetic blood can revolutionize medical care by providing a far-reaching solution to keeping people in need supplied with blood regardless of type or donor. While the artificial blood is about to go through human trials, there is still a long road ahead for a full-scale success of synthetic blood. However, these developments can possibly change the future of mankind itself.

A Review of Blood Substitutes: Examining The History, Clinical Trial Results, and Ethics of Hemoglobin-Based Oxygen Carriers

The complications associated with acquiring and storing whole blood for transfusions have launched substantial efforts to develop a blood substitute. The history of these efforts involves a complicated mixture of science, ethics, and business.

Artificial Blood Substitutes: First Steps on the Long Route to Clinical Utility

The 21st century is challenging for human beings. Increased population growth, population aging, generation of new infectious agents, and natural disasters are some threatening factors for the current state of blood transfusion. However, it seems that science and technology not only could overcome these challenges but also would turn many human dreams to reality in this regard. Scientists believe that one of the future evolutionary innovations could be artificial blood substitutes that might pave the way to a new era in transfusion medicine. In this review, recent status and progresses in artificial blood substitutes, focusing on red blood cells substitutes, are summarized.

Hemoglobin-Based Oxygen Carriers: Where Are We Now in 2023?

The pursuit for blood a substitute has spanned over a century, but a majority of the efforts have been disappointing. As of today, there is no widely accepted product used as an alternative to human blood in clinical settings with severe anemic condition(s). Blood substitutes are currently also termed oxygen therapeutics. There are two major categories of oxygen therapeutics, hemoglobin-based and perfluorocarbon-based products.

Scientists are developing artificial blood that could save lives in emergencies

Doctor's team makes synthetic blood from hemoglobin, the protein that nourishes the body with oxygen. The researchers extract hemoglobin from expired blood and enclose the protein in a bubble of fat, essentially creating artificial red blood cells. The protective bubble is the innovation that Doctor thinks will solve the safety problems caused by other attempts at making synthetic blood. These other efforts also used hemoglobin, but exposed hemoglobin can be toxic to organs, he says.

Scientists Are Racing to Create Synthetic Blood in the Wake of Mass Tragedies

Scientists have been working on creating synthetic blood for years now. The hope is that this substance will have a longer shelf life than human blood—which can only be refrigerated for 42 days—and eventually can be packaged and stored for use in emergencies. If this works, thousands of lives could be saved every year.

The quest for one of science’s holy grails: artificial blood

There has been “about 50, 60 years of research in trying to make a blood substitute that has not worked,” said Doctor, a pediatric critical care physician and researcher at Washington University in St. Louis.

What Would Artificial Blood Mean for Jehovah’s Witnesses?

Would permitting artificial blood, should it become scalable in the future, be a good compromise? I’m no Jehovah’s Witness, so I can’t speculate too much, but it seems that it could be a workable loophole that would allow them to adhere to their faith while catching up with modern medicine.

Why Can’t Scientists Just Make Synthetic Blood For Transfusions?

If you’ve ever donated blood, you might have wondered why no one’s ever figured out a way to make artificial blood. The answer? It’s complicated.

Resources

KaloCyte

KaloCyte is developing ErythroMer, a dried, bio-inspired artificial red blood cell, to treat life-threatening blood loss when stored red blood cells are unavailable, undesirable or in short supply.

Hemopure

Hemopure is a hemoglobin-based oxygen carrier (HBOC) ready for immediate infusion, that transports and delivers oxygen from the plasma and expands the circulating volume. The product is supplied in sterile, flexible infusion bags with a fill volume of 250mL. Consisting of 32.5 g purified, glutaraldehyde-polymerized, bovine hemoglobin (Hb) in an iso-oncotic balanced modified Ringer’s lactate, it can be stored at room temperature for at least three years. ​ Hemopure can be administered immediately and is compatible with all blood types; type and cross-match is unnecessary. It does not require warming or reconstitution prior to administration and can be administered through a standard intravenous line.