First blood from the bioreactor

In 2008, the US Agency for Advanced Defense Research and Development (DARPA) launched the Blood Pharming program, with the aim of mastering the production of large volumes of so-called universal donor kits using compact autonomous systems.

Recently, the biotech company Arteriocyte, which received a grant of $ 1.95 million, sent the first batch of bioengineered blood for approval to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Blood for transfusion is obtained in a bioreactor from hematopoietic cells isolated from umbilical cord blood. It takes Arteriocyte scientists three days to turn one unit of cord blood into 20 units of donor blood. A fighter needs an average of 6 units for treatment.

"We simulate the activity of the bone marrow in the laboratory,– says CEO Don Brown. "The model works, but we need to extrapolate our capabilities to reach an industrial scale" (Wired, Darpa's Lab–Grown Blood Starts Pumping).

Despite the fact that DARPA conceived the project to compensate for the lack of blood, Mr. Brown, whose company uses technology created at Johns Hopkins University, believes that the results of the study go far beyond this framework. Since the lion's share of donated blood used for military purposes is donated on the territory of the United States, by the time it gets to the battlefield, it usually takes three weeks. The expiration date of donated blood remains a debatable issue. The Red Cross refuses blood after 42 days, but some medical experts believe that fresh blood "spoils" after 28 days. Others see an increased risk of infection and multiple organ failure if the blood age exceeds two weeks. "Until now, the military has mostly been limited to using old blood," emphasizes Don Brown.

One unit of artificial blood is estimated at $5,000. DARPA believes that it is necessary to reduce the cost of production to at least a thousand. The practical application of the novelty is expected no earlier than 2013.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru12.07.2010