Synthetic Blood in the Near Future?

Synthetic Blood is not a concept that I can happily say that I welcome, although it is a scientific advancement that is on the forefront of the future. Truthfully, when my Twitter friend, @InceptSaves, let me know about this developing product, I have to say harsh skepticism was my first reaction.

To be fair, the complexities of whole blood are too great to ever be reproduced in a laboratory, however, researchers have focused their efforts on creating artificial substitutes for 2 important functions of blood: oxygen transport by red blood cells and hemostasis by platelets.

A number of driving forces have led to the development of artificial blood substitutes. One major force is the military, which requires a large volume of blood products that can be easily stored and readily shipped to the site of casualties. Another force is HIV; with the advent of this virus, the medical community and the public suddenly became aware of the significance of transfusion-transmitted diseases and became concerned about the safety of the national blood supply. A third force is the growing shortage of blood donors. Approximately 60% of the population is eligible to donate blood, but fewer than 5% are regular blood donors. A unit of blood is transfused every 2 seconds in the USA, and the number of units transfused each year has been increasing at twice the rate of donor collection.

Artificial blood products offer many important benefits. First, they are readily available and have a long shelf life, allowing them to be stocked in emergency rooms and ambulances and easily shipped to areas of need. Second, they can undergo filtration and pasteurization processes to virtually eliminate microbial contamination. No product can claim to be 100% risk-free for infectious agents, but these substitutes have a greatly increased level of safety. Third, they do not require blood typing, so they can be infused immediately and for all patient blood types. Fourth, they do not appear to cause immunosuppression in the recipient.

Now, the advancement in science comes at a price also. A rough estimate at this time places the price tag at $5,000 per unit of blood (1 pint). A patient requiring a heart surgery may need 6 units; a newborn baby may need 3; cancer patients may need 5 or more PER treatment; and sickle cell anemia patients require a full exchange (10+) every three to 4 weeks. The cost alone can be prohibitive to many, including myself, in the future should donor availability every fall to a level where synthetic products are needed.

I will keep following the progression of the production with my friends at Incept and formulate my opinions, however, at this time, I won't be volunteering for human trials and can't say that I would "purchase" the product. Although, in the future, there may be no choice if there are no donors. If there was ever a reason to donate, this would be it.