Artifical Blood: How Close Are We?

"Blood is thicker than water." "Blood brothers." "Bad blood." These and other expressions are so popular in mythology and religion due to the unique life-giving properties of blood. Unfortunately, this special gift is often difficult to find when people most need it.

American blood banks are experiencing critical shortages of lifesaving blood-especially during the summer months. It is reported that in the U.S. alone, someone needs a red blood transfusion every three seconds. One in three people will need a blood transfusion in their lifetime.

The success in finding a blood substitute would go a long way in relieving the blood shortage. The search for a viable blood substitute has just become more encouraging.

Although the last 35 years have seen previous efforts fail because of toxicity issues, one strategy to identify and nullify the source of toxicity seems to be promising. HemoBioTech, a Dallas-based pharmaceutical company, is developing a viable blood substitute, called HemoTech, that is expected to be compatible with all blood types and have a shelf life of 180-plus days, compared to 42 days for donated blood.

The blood substitute is composed of chemically modified bovine hemoglobin. In natural blood, hemoglobin binds with oxygen as the blood travels through the lungs and drops it off at the cells, throughout the body. HemoTech works the same way, by carrying oxygen in the blood to the cells, and it has an additional benefit of actually inducing red blood cell production.

Healing Blood

Researchers at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center began developing HemoTech in 1985. The research and development effort was led by two of the world's foremost blood substitute authorities, Drs. Mario Feola and Jan Simoni.

In one limited clinical study, nine sickle cell anemia patients were infused with an amount of blood substitute representing 25 percent of the patients' blood volume. That limited clinical trial resulted in significant patient improvement and showed that a blood substitute can work as an effective oxygen carrier in humans without any toxic side effects.