Is Artificial Blood the Future of Blood Transfusion; A Quick Overview
Artificial blood is a product made to act as a substitute for red blood cells. It is designed to transport carbon dioxide and oxygen throughout the body. Artificial blood can be produced using recombinant biochemical technology or chemical isolation. Despite the variety of products in advanced stages of clinical trials, the commercialization of artificial blood is slow. Important concerns that marketers are addressing are the compatibility, safety, and efficacy of artificial blood.
Insufficient number of blood donors and the importance of blood-type rejection has encouraged researchers to develop artificial blood. For decades, researchers have been trying to develop artificial blood from various sources and in various ways to overcome the lack of blood for transfusions. Researchers have developed and tested several different types of synthetic red blood cells and blood substitutes (artificial blood). Recently, they announced the discovery of a special type of blood that contains not only red blood cells but also allows transporting oxygen throughout the body just like the real thing.
Perfluorocarbons (PFCs) are completely synthetic blood products derived from carbon- and fluorine-containing chemicals. PFCs are chemically inactive, but more effective than blood plasma or water in absorbing and dissolving oxygen in the lungs and then transporting oxygen throughout the body. Depending on the type of artificial blood, it can be produced in various ways using chemical isolation, synthetic production, or recombinant biochemical technology.
Although many attempts have been made to develop blood substitutes (artificial blood) over the years, there are currently no such products available that have been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). However, Fluosol-DA-20 was the first and only oxygen-carrying blood substitute to receive approval from the FDA. It was developed in Japan and first tested in the United States in November 1979.
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