By 2019 approximately, the National Health Service of the United Kingdom (NHS) will start testing artificial blood produced in laboratory in healthy humans.
To achieve this innovation, scientists will use donations of adult stem cells and the umbilical cord of newborns. The goal is to obtain a universal blood that helps treat people who need regular transfusions and patients with unusual blood groups.
The first tests will be done with small amounts of blood to rule out possible adverse effects and study the survival time of synthetic red blood cells in the body.
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