Lab-grown blood gets first trials in humans
BLOOD grown in a lab is to be tested on humans in Britain for the first time.
Up to 10 volunteers will have two mini blood transfusions four months apart using a teaspoonful of lab-grown red blood cells.
A radioactive tracer will test how long it lasts in the body compared to the same amount of standard cells from the same donor.
The trials are due to take place at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge.
Exciting
The technology uses blood from adult stem cells which are cultivated and then reproduced.
It has been developed jointly by scientists from the University of Bristol and NHS Blood and Transplant.
Professor Marc Turner said: “This is very exciting and very significant work and an important step forward. It could eventually mean we may have artificial blood to replace donors.”
NHS Bl o o d and Transplant needs to collect 1.5 million units of blood each year – so it might be years before manufactured cells could be available on such a large scale.
But it could be a huge step forward for people with life-limiting conditions such as sickle cell disease.
The blood is costly to create so at first it could be used for patients with rare blood groups, for whom it is difficult to find donors.