NoBlood

Scientists Develop Way to Create Blood Cells Using Stem Cells
Scientists recently revealed a successful method for developing, in volume, blood cells made from human stem cells. In reporting their finding, the Australian scientists noted that the discovery could one day lead to production of blood cells that would take the place of donated blood cells for transfusions and organ transplants, according to a Reuters article published June 16, 2005. In the future, if red blood cells produced by synthetic means were to become the norm, these new cells theoretically would be safer than donated blood, which holds the potential risk of possessing infectious transmissible agents. According to the scientists, however, this possibility is many years away, as scientists are currently unable to develop blood cells in sufficiently large quantities for transfusions … [To view the full text, see the current issue of Weekly Report.]