Red blood cells are the core of the human, as it is responsible of transferring the oxygen from the lungs to all the organs of the human body. The red blood cells are the cells that give the blood its color. More than 2 million new red blood cells are produced every seconds. A one microliter of the male’s blood contains about 4.7 to 6.1 million red blood cells, while every one microliter of the female’s blood contains about 4.2 to 5.4 million. Red blood cells are manufactured in the bone marrow of the human.
In case of severe injuries the human body loses amounts of blood, if that amount is high then the human’s life is in danger, and a blood infusion is a necessaty. The problem is that the blood needed has to be from human donitions, which is not enough.
Scientists have been trying to reach for artificial blood all over the world. The researchers of Edinburgh University in Scotland have reached an artificial blood that will be ready to be tasted on human 2 or 3 years from now. Interestingly the artificial blood is made from the type (O-) which can be helpful for all types of blood, the artificial cells are made from a bone marrow of a human.
The team in Edinburgh, led by Professor Marc Turner, has been working on a technique whereby stem cells are taken from the bone marrow of healthy adults and are then grown in a lab into a material that very closely resembles red blood cells grown normally in the human body. They think their process has been sufficiently refined to predict that their results will be ready for clinical trials in as little as two or three years. The next step would be combing their results with the results of others around the world who are working on ways create a form of artificial hemoglobin. If all goes according to plan, the use of such artificial blood could become a routine part of emergency medical practices in about ten years time.
The problem with the artificial blood, however, is even if all works out as planned it still wouldn’t be the perfect replacement everyone really wants. Artificial blood, while clearly a lifesaver in medical emergencies would not likely ever be a permanent replacement for blood; it would still be just a stop-gap type measure. This is why research will continue to focus on a true artificial blood that could in theory completely replace all the blood a person needs and function just as their natural blood does, without any advertise side effects or complications.