Posted on 07/10/2010 9:09:20 PM PDT by neverdem
American scientists have developed 'artificial' blood that could soon be used to treat wounded soldiers in battle.
The genetically-engineered blood is created by taking cells from umbilical cords and using a machine to mimic the way bone marrow works to produce mass quantities of usable units of red blood cells.
Known as 'blood pharming' the programme was launched in 2008 by the Pentagon's experimental arm, Darpa, to create blood to treat soldiers in far-flung battlefields.
The firm Arteriocyte, which received $1.95 million for the project, has now sent off its first shipment of O-negative blood to the food and drugs watchdog in the US, the FDA.
U.S. soldiers carry a wounded soldier in Iraq. The breakthrough could help provide enough blood for battlefield transfusions
The blood is made by using hematopoietic cells taken from umbilical cords in a process called ‘pharming’ – using genetically engineered plants or animals to create mass quantities of useful substances.
One umbilical cord can be turned into around 20 units of usable blood. A wounded soldier in the field will require an average of six units during treatment.
Blood cells produced using this method are 'functionally indistinguishable from red blood cells in healthy circulation', the company claims.
‘We’re basically mimicking bone marrow in a lab environment,' Arteriocyte boss Don Brown told Wired magazine.
‘Our model works, but we need to extrapolate our production abilities to make scale.’
If approved it could revolutionise battlefields where a shortage of blood donors can hamper treatment of wounded soldiers.
The process of giving transfusions in war zones is also made more difficult because donated blood has...
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Amazing.
Thanks
Umbilical cords and "pharming"...
This is really cool but it will be bad news to college students and winos everywhere.
“This is really cool but it will be bad news to college students and winos everywhere.”
Hahahahahaha...
We can call this another triumph for “adult” stem cell research.
Yeah, I know, a bit of a technicality, as it’s rather hard to call umbilical cord blood cells “adult” but for our purposes...
The blood is made by using hematopoietic cells taken from umbilical cords in a process called ‘pharming’ – using genetically engineered plants or animals to create mass quantities of useful substances.
It sounds like their using recombinant, human erythropoietin, aka Epogen and Procrit, on the red blood cell, i.e. erythrocyte, progenitor cells.
What was the name of that front company the vampires in “Underworld” used to sell their synthetic, cloned blood?
Umm why O-negative? I thought the best blood for transfusions is O-positive.
Sure, they will be the losers, and Corporations will reap billions of $!
Let's know what are the cost trade-off here, before we go Gaga Gaga?
Open your eyes, Corporations are moving to take control of everything that you need to survive. And by Corporations, I specifically mean a small group of monopolistic controlled Corporations e.g. cross-coupled corporate board of directors, representing a very concentrated economic group of interests as in sixteen (16) Trillionaires!
IIRC, all "adult" stem cells used therapeutically now are rather differentiated progenitor cells. They probably refined a technique to separate erythroblasts, red blood cell precursors, from the cord blood, IMHO, and blast it with the hormone and growing media to stimulate proliferation.
And, I'm sure, someday trapping for Phur.
You are right. Genetically modified seed (patented) is what most corn and soybean farmers are planting now. You can’t keep any back to plant next year, like in years past. If you tried, you’d either get caught, or the seed is inviable by design.
Another different note- my mom (in her 70’s) got bit by a small copperhead about 6 weeks ago while gardening. Although we live in rattlesnake/copperhead heaven, none of the local hospitals had any antivenom- they had to source it from Kansas City.
The means of survival are being slowly concentrated into fewer and fewer hands. As a member of the proletariat I am not supposed to be seeing this. I should be concerned with where LeBron James is playing basketball.
This is great. We can use this on soldiers who have no right to refuse the experimental treatment. We need test subjects. /sarcasm -off.
"Universal" donor is O-negative, but you still need to check for minor antigens.
Minor antigens (other than A, B, and Rh) that occur on red blood cells can sometimes also cause problems and so are also checked for a match before giving a blood transfusion.
Recipients can have antibodies to those antigens causing a rejection.
Post-in-poor-taste ping
[well, ~he's~ not using it, any more]
/gallows humor
... The means of survival are being slowly concentrated into fewer and fewer hands. As a member of the proletariat I am not supposed to be seeing this. I should be concerned with where LeBron James is playing basketball. ...
Well put my friend!
The article said one umbilical cord can grow about 20 pints worth for about six thousand bucks.
I gather the erythroblasts can only be induced to divide so many times. I know that human tissue cells are limited in how many times they can divide outside the body while human cancer cells can keep going for all eternity.
No O negative is universal. A positive can take negative blood but not the other way around.
I hope your Mom is doing OK!
wonder where the get the umbilical cords? and what age they need to be at to produce their result?
this is grossly immoral if it requires pre-term umbilicals and the idea is to farm abortions.
O negative is universal replacement.
The positive can cause rejection response.
It is from babies that are born. The blood circulates through the placenta and the baby. The baby's blood does not mix with the mother's blood.
After the baby is born, the cord is tied off and cut, leaving blood still in the cord and placenta.
When some of our Grandchildren were born the hospital asked if the cord blood could be saved and donated.
It used to be discarded, but is now useful.
During both the first and second world wars, when human blood was scarce, they used sea water in the place of human blood. Actually the best of that brand of blood substitute was made from fresh water which was then mixed with collected moist sea salt - to a point of salinity just above that of human blood. It worked very well, and helped promote fast healing.
//this is grossly immoral if it requires pre-term umbilicals and the idea is to farm abortions//
Agreed and if that is true then the soldier should be able to opt out on moral grounds even at the cost of his own life.
Will they reveal the donor situation?
“Open your eyes, Corporations are moving to take control fo everything that you need to survive.”
Yeah. Better that Big Government should take control of everyone’s life and keep those Big Corportations from mis-behaving.
/S/
IMHO
i used to give plasma cause ya could donate more often but it was 1/2 the price of blood...
iirc i read many moons ago about a process that turns any type of blood into O- anybody???
“One umbilical cord can be turned into around 20 units of usable blood.”
How many units can we get if we use the whole baby?
Are you talking about Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler Fascism or are you speaking about government officials accepting money from corporate interests that violates any sense of propriety or ethics or that influences legislation?
Are you saying that corporate interests have no right to have access to government or make contributions to political candidates? Are you saying that the rule of law has been completely suspended and that all corporations are fascist organs?
Maybe we should have real Fascism so that the Fascism you speak of is eliminated.
IMHO
FDA serves Big Pharma interests by giving Ok to drugs that are detrimental, while suppressing natural remedies that are not produced by Big Pharma.
I'm talking about suppressing alternate therapies, beside Big Pharma supported therapies and drugs.
I'm talking bout EPA agenda to suppress small farmers in favor of Big Agriculture.
I'm talking about making US consumer dependent on foreign food supply, rather than our home grown food supply.
I'm talking about suppression of Alcohol as a fuel in favor of Big Oil and gasoline as a fuel.
I'm talking suppression of condescend light bulb in favor of Phillips Corp florescent light bulb.
The list goes on and on.
Do you have proof for each of the conspiracies that you have cited or is it just a gut feeling?
Do you have proof for each of the conspiracies that you have cited or is it just a gut feeling?
“The list goes on and on.”
Would you like some milk to go with all those fig newtons of your imagination?
‘Proof’ you say? I am not a prosecutor, nor do I have the resources of a prosecutor, or even that of a private eye. Hence, I am relying on new sources that I have come to trust, such as FR.
Whole milk or one percent?
Cool.
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