Medical Discovery News
Science permeates everyday life. Yet the understanding of advances in biomedical science is limited at best. Few people make the connection that biomedical science is medicine and that biomedical scientists are working today for the medicine of tomorrow. Our weekly five-hundred-word newspaper column (http://www.illuminascicom.com/) and two-minute radio show provide insights into a broad range of biomedical science topics. Medical Discovery News is dedicated to explaining discoveries in biomedical research and their promise for the future of medicine. Each release is designed to stimulate listeners to think, question and appreciate how science affects their health as well as that of the rest of the world. We also delve into significant biomedical discoveries and portray how science (or the lack of it) has impacted health throughout history.
Medical Discovery News
A New Blood Substitute
953 A New Blood Substitute
Welcome to Medical Discovery News. I’m Dr David Niesel.
And I’m Dr. Norbert Herzog
Since blood donors are in short supply and donated blood only lasts forty days, scientists have for a century tried to find a human blood alternative.
In the eighteen seventies, milk was explored as a substitute. Much later, perfluorocarbon was tried for its stability and ability to absorb oxygen in the lungs, but it had too many side effects.
Today, some researchers are focused on hemoglobin, an ingredient in the blood that gives blood cells their color. The red molecule binds oxygen and distributes it throughout the body.
So far, the most promising study uses recycled hemoglobin from a blood bank’s expired blood, and here’s how it works. Around ten thousand copies of hemoglobin protein are placed inside a lipid sac, resembling a mini-red blood cell.
Inside are also molecules called two-three-DPG that make the cell-like capsules responsive to changes in pH. This means they respond differently to acidity or alkalinity.
At the high pH inside the lung, two-three-DPG interacts with hemoglobin increasing its ability to bind oxygen.
In other tissues and organs, where the pH is low, the two-three DPG is released which causes the hemoglobin to release oxygen into those tissues. This mimics how our red blood cells work naturally.
These engineered hemoglobin sacs are compatible with all blood types, don’t need refrigeration, and have a shelf life of two years. So far, animal testing is going well and the next step is human clinical trials.
We are Drs. David Niesel and Norbert Herzog, at UTMB and Quinnipiac University, where biomedical discoveries shape the future of medicine. For much more and our disclaimer go to medicaldiscoverynews.comor subscribe to our podcast. Sign up for expanded print episodes at www.illuminascicom.com
