London. For the first time in the world blood developed in the lab has been donated to people. This success has been achieved in a clinical trial in the UK. Scientists from many institutions including Cambridge and Bristol University are involved in this trial. Experts say it can help treat blood disorders and people with rare blood types.
How is blood made?
In this process of making blood in the lab, the focus is on red blood cells. They take oxygen from the lungs and deliver it to every part of the body. The scientist first conducts a normal donation of a person’s blood. Its volume is about 470 ml.
After this, the stem cells are separated from the sample using a magnet, which can further become red blood cells. Stem cells are found in the bone marrow, from which the three main cells of the blood – red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets are formed.
In the next step, scientists grow large numbers of stem cells in the laboratory. After this, they are guided to convert into red blood cells. The whole process takes about 3 weeks. During this time, 50 million stem cells become 50 billion red blood cells. In this 15 billion red blood cells are filtered, which can be useful in transplants.
The radioactive substance present in the blood
The researchers said that 2 people have been included in the research. However, the entire trial will be conducted on 10 healthy people. They will be given two blood donations of 5 to 10 ml at an interval of 4 months. One of these will be normal blood and the other will be lab-made blood. Lab blood also contains radioactive substances, which will track its performance.
Red blood cells last 120 days
Normally, red blood cells last 120 days in the body. After this, new cells take their place. Normal donated blood contains both new and old red blood cells. Blood cells made in the Magar lab are completely new. So scientists hope that it will last for 120 days. Due to this, patients will need fewer blood donations in the future.
What is the price of new blood?
According to Britain’s National Health Service Blood and Transplant, an average blood donation costs 145 Euros or 13,666 rupees. The price of the blood prepared in the lab will be more than this. The institute says that no price has been fixed for this technology yet, but as the technology advances, its cost will decrease.
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