From the company that brought you Dolly the cloned sheep comes another new and exciting development: the creation of red blood cells from spare IVF embryonic stem cells (ESC). British scientists from the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh are using stem cell lines to create an alternative source of O-negative (universal donor) and B-positive blood types.
According to Professor Marc Turner, leader of the £3 million project, manufacturing synthetic blood on an industrial scale would overcome blood shortages and risks of infection associated with blood transfusions.
“This is very important on at least two levels: there is an almost constant worldwide shortage of red blood cells available for transfusion, so getting embryonic stem cells to produce red blood cells would be a major benefit,” says ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross. “And of course any new application of ESC technology points towards future important breakthroughs in that area as well.”
“Although this is still very preliminary, the research is intriguing,” says ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan.