Turn animal blood into human blood?

The artificial blood is not restricted by blood type, does not require matching, and can be used on demand.

Recently, the National Micro-Detection Engineering Technology Research Center of Northwest University and Xi’an Blood Oxygen Biotechnology Co.

The overall quality of the product has reached the international advanced level, and the key indicators are internationally leading

In the next 3 to 4 years, this technological achievement is expected to be applied to the clinic as a "breakthrough therapeutic drug"

The development and production of artificial blood has become a hot spot in various countries

The shortage of clinical blood sources sometimes causes temporary cancellations or delays in operations in hospitals; limited by blood bank reserves and matching, it is difficult to guarantee on-site blood in the event of natural disasters; due to the limitation of red blood cell storage periods not exceeding 35 days, blood source reserves are abnormal Difficulties; AIDS, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and other viruses in routine blood donation can be transmitted through blood, and blood safety faces many challenges.

On the one hand, China’s blood is scarce and the amount of blood available for clinical use is scarce; on the other hand, influenced by traditional concepts, many people believe that “the blood is also the essence of the water valley” and “the blood of the father and the mother cannot be discarded”.

According to the data released by China Central Television, China's blood donation rate rose sharply in 2019, but it was still only 1.

For a long period of time in the future, it will be difficult to change the current situation of blood shortage by only relying on the mode of unpaid blood donation

Artificial blood is blood oxygen fluid, which can be used to replace real human blood to meet the clinical demand for blood in medical treatment and alleviate blood shortage

my country's artificial blood has achieved breakthrough results

In recent years, in order to alleviate the shortage of blood sources in China, the National Engineering Technology Research Center for Micro-Detection of Northwest University has actively built a red blood cell substitute research and development platform and established a high-tech enterprise specializing in the research and development of hemoglobin carriers using animal hemoglobin as raw material-Xi’an Blood biological technology Co.

From 2008 to 2020, when the research on similar products in the world has almost stagnated, the R&D team has learned from domestic and foreign experience.

The artificial blood developed by the R&D team uses pig blood as a raw material, extracts the hemoglobin from it, and then undergoes glutaraldehyde polymerization and other processing and modification methods to form a hemoglobin polymer, which has the ability to carry oxygen, release oxygen, and expand.

The research and development team simulated clinical operations and emergency treatment of massive hemorrhage outside the hospital, and jointly established rat, dog, monkey and other related animal models with the Institute of Military Medical Research and West China Hospital of Sichuan University, which confirmed that the artificial blood developed by it is in the absence of red blood cells or suitable blood types.

Data shows that this product is an innovative biologic drug with the closest function to human red blood cells that has been reported at home and abroad.

Drug safety is the primary consideration for drugs entering the clinic

In addition, the artificial blood is not restricted by blood type, does not need to be matched, and is used on demand, suitable for almost all blood types including "panda blood type"; the established process technology and quality and safety management system effectively avoid viruses and other pathogenic microorganisms The risk of infection; can be stored stably for more than 1 year; due to the wide range of sources of raw materials for manufacturing, through large-scale preparation, a theoretically relatively sufficient supply can be achieved

In the future, the artificial blood is expected to provide a breakthrough innovative drug and a new treatment method to alleviate the current situation of clinical blood shortage in China
.

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Stem cell artificial blood has high hopes

In the 1990s, mankind produced artificial blood
.
At that time, the main types of artificial blood developed were perfluorocarbons (PFC), hemoglobin oxygen carriers (HBOCs) and stem cells.
However, artificial blood that can completely replace the function of human blood has not yet come out
.

PFC is vividly called "white blood" because of its white color
.
PFC is a fluorine substitute for linear or cyclic hydrocarbons.
It can dissolve a large amount of non-polar gas under normal temperature and pressure.
The solubility of oxygen in 100 ml of PFC is about 45 ml
.
The use of PFC with oxygen delivery equipment can allow the blood to carry a higher concentration of oxygen than under normal conditions
.
As a blood substitute, PFC has the advantages of low cost, low storage conditions, suitable for various blood types, and no risk of blood transfusion, but the side effects caused by its infusion are also uncommon, which has led to the termination of many clinical trials in recent years
.
PFC also withdrew from the market
.

HBOCs are roughly similar to blood
.
It is dark red or purplish red and is made of sterilized hemoglobin.
It is more in line with the physiological characteristics of the human body than PFC, and its metabolic pathway is closer to the body's normal metabolic pathway
.
However, natural hemoglobin cannot be directly used as a blood substitute.
Leaving the protective environment of red blood cells, hemoglobin degrades very quickly, which may cause kidney damage and increased blood pressure, and it will produce free radicals that can damage the heart and other organs
.
Therefore, it needs to be chemically modified before it can be applied to the human body
.
The main modification methods currently used include amino terminal modification, intramolecular crosslinking, and intermolecular crosslinking
.
At present, HBOCs produced in the United States have been marketed in South Africa and Russia, and are conditionally applied in the United States
.

Stem cells, as the latest type of research and development, are highly expected by researchers
.
From an immunological point of view, artificial blood grown from human hematopoietic stem cells is the closest substitute to natural blood
.
Scientists are actively carrying out various studies on the use of stem cells to develop artificial blood
.
Artificial blood products made from human stem cells have been used in medicine for a long time
.
Chinese scientific research institutions are also conducting research on this type of artificial blood, some of which have made phased progress
.