Science has come one step closer
to making human blood as biomedical engineers produced functional blood
platelets, the cells that cause clots to form, from human bone marrow
grown in the lab.
The announcement by NHS Blood and Transport
is one of 8 goals of the 2020 Research and Development programme, which
aims to develop transfusion, transplantation and regenerative medicine
over the next 5 years.
In addition to this,
researchers are investigating using stem cells from adult and umbilical
cord blood to create alternatives to donated blood, particularly those
with complex blood types for whom it is difficult to find compatible
donors.
The research programme could help patients
with conditions such as sickle cell anaemia and thalassemia, who
require treatment with regular blood transfusions.
It is being done by Bristol, Cambridge and Oxford universities.
No comments:
Post a Comment