Synthetic Blood

Sometimes blood transfusions can become problematic because it’s difficult to get enough blood supply for each patient’s blood type to satisfy the demand. Blood can come in 4 base types: A, B, O and AB, it can also be positive or negative. Combining these 2 factors, it gives us 8 possible blood types. The blood bank may be low on one of this blood-types when a patient comes needing it. This lack of supply may put lives in danger, a solution needs to be made in order to secure enough blood for patients who need it. 

To make a successful blood transfusion, the donator’s blood type must be the same as the receiver’s blood type. That’s because our immune system can detect external agents that don’t belong in our body or agents that don’t have enough compatibility. After identifying them, diverse molecular mechanisms get rid of them. If you get the wrong blood type on a transfusion, your body will trigger an immune response to try and get rid of all that foreign blood. This could have fatal consequences.

Because of the importance of blood transfusions in medicine, Martha Lopez-Yrigoyen and her team are developing a way to manufacture a blood-like product by genetically programming macrophages. In the future, a patient may be able to get off-the-shelf blood matching it’s blood type. Several technical issues, as well as manufacturing obstacles, need to be addressed for this product to be a reality. Someday, however, this “synthetic blood” will certainly be available in the clinic.

References:

Figure 2f from: Irimia R, Gottschling M (2016) Taxonomic revision of Rochefortia Sw. (Ehretiaceae, Boraginales). Biodiversity Data Journal 4: E7720. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.4.e7720. (n.d.). doi:10.3897/bdj.4.e7720.figure2f