Blood grown in laboratory
Finally, scientists grow blood in lab. Blood donations could one day be a thing of the past — thanks to scientists who have grown the first functional red blood cells in the laboratory from human embryonic stem cells (ESCs).
Researchers had previously grown blood cells from ESCs but never achieved the “enucleation” step which means that the cells can’t divide and become cancerous. Now, a team in the US created the red blood cells by exposing cultures of human ESCs to sequence of nutrients and growth factors — this turned them first into precursors to blood cells, and then into mature blood cells.
The crucial achievement was getting the cells to expel their nuclei just as they would in the body. Subsequently, tests on the red blood cells suggested that they can deliver oxygen just as efficiently as donated red blood cells. The findings have been published in the latest edition of the Blood journal. — PTI
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