Blood From Stem Cells

Every year, more than 100 million blood transfusions are needed worldwide. The best blood type for transfusions is type 0 negative, due to its universal acceptance. However, only 7 % of the world's population has this specific blood type and is therefore able to donate it.

Now, for the first time in history, a research team from the UK has managed to produce artificial 0 negative blood from induced pluripotent stem cells in the appropriate quality required for transfusions. They are highly optimistic that human trials will start within the next three year. If these trials prove the artificial blood to be successful, the dependence on blood donors could be reduced drastically. The second important advantage of artificial blood is that is is disease free - guaranteed!

However great the advantages of artificial blood from stem cells may be, there is still one challenge to overcome: as of yet, there is no quick and economically feasible way to produce the quantities needed. One single transfusion unit consists of more than a trillion blood cells; and now multiply this number by the number of transfusions needed yearly. Furthermore, clinical trials involving humans usually take years, so we could still be a decade away from the everyday use of artificial blood transfusions.

Sources:
http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/factory-made-blood-nearing-human-trials
http://www.engineering.com/DesignerEdge/DesignerEdgeArticles/ArticleID/7482/Artificial-Blood-on-Its-Way-to-Clinical-Trials.aspx
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f6f1914c-c3d6-11e3-870b-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2znoegDuM