Artificial Blood

Dr. Robert Winslow, a UC San Diego researcher who was one of the pioneers in the development of artificial blood, died at his home Feb. 2 after a long battle with brain cancer. He was 67. Winslow also had climbed Mt. Everest and worked briefly at a variety of high-altitude research laboratories to better understand the physiology of blood under such extreme conditions.

The artificial vessels created by Humacyte do not perfectly mimic nature's recipe. They lack a major component of natural vessels: the protein elastin. Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh have now coaxed engineered vessels to make elastin, they reported Feb. 3 in the online edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The rubber-band material that allows veins and arteries to snap back into shape after every pulse, elastin has long been one of the greatest challenges in any attempt to make artificial blood vessels.

A new form of artificial blood made from cow hemoglobin has been successfully tested in humans for the first time, a Boston-based company said Friday. The finding is a major step forward in the quest for blood substitutes that would both increase the blood supply and greatly reduce the risk of viral infections resulting from transfusions.

Surgeons could use artificial blood vessels in several ways: Coronary artery bypass grafts: If one of the heart's arteries is blocked or diseased, a new vessel may be necessary. Surgeons can harvest arteries and veins from elsewhere in the patient's body, but they're in limited supply. Peripheral bypass grafts: Atherosclerosis can narrow arteries beyond the heart. Again, the body has only so many options for replacement. Kidney dialysis shunts: People on dialysis need an easily accessible vessel containing fast-moving blood.

Colorado researchers have used genetic engineering to produce a form of artificial blood, representing a significant step in the search for a solution to the worldwide shortage of blood. Researchers from Somatogen in Boulder report today in the British journal Nature that they have already begun human trials with the blood, which is produced in bacteria.

The government approved the first artificial blood Friday. But it's just for dogs. BioPure Corp.'s Oxyglobin is big news for veterinarians because animal blood banks are rare and veterinarians struggle to find canine blood donors whenever a dog gets hit by a car or comes down with anemia.

For decades, scientists have chased the elusive dream of creating artificial blood--blood that would be universally compatible and readily available--and today a handful of U.S. companies is tantalizingly close to the finish line. Experts predict that the first generation of so-called fake blood could hit the market within two years, easing the blood shortage, saving lives during medical emergencies and further reducing the potential dangers from infectious diseases carried by donor blood.

Attempts to manufacture an artificial blood have run into an unexpected roadblock that may seriously delay commercialization of the products, a UC San Diego physician said here. Although scientists from the four companies now conducting clinical trials on the artificial bloods have been closemouthed about the preliminary results from their trials, enough information has leaked out to allow observers to deduce the cause of the problems, said Dr. Robert M.

Despite evidence that a group of experimental blood substitutes nearly tripled the risk of heart attacks and caused a 30% increase in deaths, the Food and Drug Administration continued to approve some clinical trials of the products, researchers said Monday. The agency should have known about the risks by 2000 and halted all trials, thereby preventing deaths that have occurred in the last seven years, according to a report published online by the Journal of the American Medical Assn.

In the "True Blood" television series, sexy vampires quaff bottles of artificial blood that allow them to live alongside humans in polite society. In real life, people in distress need artificial blood, and scientists are working on several synthetic concoctions that could stand in for the crucial body fluid. Every year, 4.5 million Americans receive lifesaving transfusions, according to the New York Blood Center, and 1 in 3 people will need blood at some point in their lifetime.

One of red blood cells' remarkable characteristics, among many, is their ability to deform and squish their way through blood vessels -- even blood vessels tinier than they are -- to deliver oxygen throughout the body.  Scientists believe this flexibility contributes to red blood cells' ability to circulate for an average of 120 days. Now researchers at the University of North Carolina have synthesized red blood cell-sized and -shaped nanoparticles that mimic this flexibility and longevity.

In the "True Blood" television series, sexy vampires quaff bottles of artificial blood that allow them to live alongside humans in polite society. In real life, people in distress need artificial blood, and scientists are working on several synthetic concoctions that could stand in for the crucial body fluid. Every year, 4.5 million Americans receive lifesaving transfusions, according to the New York Blood Center, and 1 in 3 people will need blood at some point in their lifetime.

Dr. Robert Winslow, a UC San Diego researcher who was one of the pioneers in the development of artificial blood, died at his home Feb. 2 after a long battle with brain cancer. He was 67. Winslow also had climbed Mt. Everest and worked briefly at a variety of high-altitude research laboratories to better understand the physiology of blood under such extreme conditions.

Despite evidence that a group of experimental blood substitutes nearly tripled the risk of heart attacks and caused a 30% increase in deaths, the Food and Drug Administration continued to approve some clinical trials of the products, researchers said Monday. The agency should have known about the risks by 2000 and halted all trials, thereby preventing deaths that have occurred in the last seven years, according to a report published online by the Journal of the American Medical Assn.

Shares of Northfield Laboratories Inc. lost more than half their value after the company said that more deaths occurred among patients given its synthetic blood product than among those not receiving the treatment in a study. There were 46 deaths among 349 patients receiving the product, called PolyHeme, compared with 35 among 363 people getting a standard treatment, Northfield said Tuesday.

For decades, scientists have chased the elusive dream of creating artificial blood--blood that would be universally compatible and readily available--and today a handful of U.S. companies is tantalizingly close to the finish line. Experts predict that the first generation of so-called fake blood could hit the market within two years, easing the blood shortage, saving lives during medical emergencies and further reducing the potential dangers from infectious diseases carried by donor blood.

Shares of Northfield Laboratories Inc. lost more than half their value after the company said that more deaths occurred among patients given its synthetic blood product than among those not receiving the treatment in a study. There were 46 deaths among 349 patients receiving the product, called PolyHeme, compared with 35 among 363 people getting a standard treatment, Northfield said Tuesday.

Lilly, Biotech Firm in Venture: Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly & Co. said it is teaming with Somatogen Inc. to make artificial hemoglobin that could be used as a blood substitute in emergencies. Boulder, Colo.-based Somatogen developed the product and is testing it with patients. The partnership will join a handful of other companies racing to get FDA approval for the first artificial blood. The agreement calls for Lilly to invest $20 million in Somatogen in exchange for Somatogen common stock.

A blood substitute was found to be just as effective as donated blood in the first direct comparison of seriously injured, bleeding trauma patients, according to a study in the August edition of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. In the study, 44 trauma patients received either the blood substitute PolyHeme or donated red blood cells to replace the blood they were losing. PolyHeme, made from the hemoglobin in unused human donor blood, was developed by Northfield Laboratories Inc.

The government approved the first artificial blood Friday. But it's just for dogs. BioPure Corp.'s Oxyglobin is big news for veterinarians because animal blood banks are rare and veterinarians struggle to find canine blood donors whenever a dog gets hit by a car or comes down with anemia.