Lab grown blood may save lives

Lab grown blood - 5th December 2022

Scientists who work for the UK’s National Health Service have discovered how to grow blood artificially. Now, they have started testing the blood on humans. If the trials are successful, it could help people with blood disorders like sickle cell anaemia and thalassemia.

In the trials scientists inject small amounts of the new blood into healthy volunteers, who are carefully monitored.

Patients who have thalassemia can’t produce haemoglobin and require regular blood transfusions. This is difficult for those with less common blood types, such as AB negative.

But how is the artificial blood created? First, scientists take 470 millilitres of blood from a blood donor. Then a machine collects stem cells from this blood. Scientists then transform the stem cells into red blood cells.

The blood grown in the lab could be more powerful than normal donor blood, as red blood cells live for 120 days. When blood is donated, it’s a mix of newer and older blood cells, which means some cells will die earlier. Because lab grown blood only contains fresh blood cells, patients would need fewer transfusions.

Toks Odesanmi’s living with sickle cell anaemia and thinks this study could be life changing. The blood disorder has required her to have a liver transplant, as well as many other operations. Although she's had these difficulties, she's hopeful. She said, 'Hope is one thing we'll hold on to, hope is all we have.'

However, it may be 5 to 10 years before lab grown blood is widely available.