Breakthrough for blood supplies

Robert Lanza, chief scientific officer at ACT, and senior author of the study, commented: “Embryonic stem cells represent a new source of cells that can be propagated and expanded indefinitely, providing a potentially inexhaustible source of red blood cells for human therapy.

“We can currently generate 10 to 100 billion red blood cells from a single six-well plate of stem cells. The identification of a stem cell line with ‘O’ blood-type would permit the production of compatible ‘universal donor’ blood. We also have work underway to generate reprogrammed (iPS) stem cells from individuals with universaldonor blood.”