Monday, 23 Mar, 2009 Health & Fitness

It seems that British scientists are to be the first in the world to develop synthetic human blood. It was reported that the synthetic blood was created from embryonic stem cells. The discovery means that it would be possible to create an unlimited amount of blood, which could help perform emergency transfusions without the risk of infection.

Due to the fact that stem cells multiply indefinitely, doctors will be able to create as much blood as it is required. It is worth mentioning that the cells are created from universal donor embryos and due to the fact that they have never been inside a human, the cells do not include any infections.

The project of the British scientists is going to be led by the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service. It involves the participation of NHS Blood and Transplant and the Wellcome Trust, which is the largest medical research charity in the world.

In an interview, a spokeswoman for the National Blood Service for England and North Wales said that the official announcement is being held by the legal issues rather than the research itself. According to a spokesman for the Wellcome Trust, the intricate legal issues are currently being solved among all the parties that are involved in the research, reports The Independent.

Scientists look forward to test human embryos that were left over from the in-vitro fertilization treatment. The test will help researchers identify embryos that are genetically programmed to grown into the O-negative blood group.

To note that the O-negative is the universal blood group that can be transfused into any patient, with no risk of negative response from the tissue. This blood group is quite rare, but it can be created in unlimited amounts from embryonic stem cells, due to the fact that, in laboratory conditions, these cells can multiply indefinitely.