Uc Science Today

Over 40 million liters of donor blood are collected annually all over the world, but it is not enough to meet blood transfusion demands. On top of that, these donations don’t last long. Blood cannot be stored for more than just a couple of days. So blood centers are in constant demand for new donors. But according to Mark Looney, a professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco this is not the only problem with donated blood. “It seems like we are in an antiquated era of collecting blood from strangers, collecting mature cells from strangers and giving them as a transfusion." According to Looney, foreign blood can bring along viruses and bacteria to a recipient’s body. That’s a big risk. And that’s why researchers are looking for new ways of getting blood to patients. “So if we could come up with a more effective approach, maybe something that is cell based, than maybe it is going to be the way of the future.” Looney says engineered blood cells from patients’ own bodies could be a