Scientists at the Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, a city in NW Romania, have developed artificial blood and initial test indicate that it may be effective.
39 year old Professor Radu Silaghi-Dumitrescu has been working on artificial blood creation for six years. It you are familiar with the typical blood drive, you probably know that it’s a commodity that can be in short supply, especially at times of high demand during times of tragedy.
The Romanian researches say that their artificial blood is made of water, salt, albumin and hemerythrin, which is a protein that is found in marine worms, and is said to make the blood stress resistant.
The researchers tested the artificial blood on mice with encouraging results. The mice injected with this blood have shown no adverse reaction or rejection of the material. Previous tests in animals had been hindered when the animals had shown symptoms of toxicity in their systems. The addition of hemerythrin has shown this protein to be safe where all others had failed.
Tests on mice will continue to be performed until the absence of toxicity is absolute, which should take about two more years. Tests on humans is still subject to enormous risk, according to Silaghi-Dumitrescu. In time, the team behind this development hopes to publish its findings in the appropriate medical journals and pursue a patent for its invention.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) half of the 107 million blood donations collected globally are collected in high-income countries, home to 15% of the world’s population. Unfortunately, in low-income countries, up to 65% of blood transfusions are given to children under five years of age; whereas in high-income countries, the most frequently transfused patient group is over 65 years of age, accounting for up to 76% of all transfusions.
