Substitute blood.

Perfect for androids or pacifist vampires… maybe. But Science Daily says artificial blood could save plenty of ordinary human lives:

The reason for this failure, according to Professor Chris Cooper, a biochemist and blood substitute expert at the University of Essex, lies in hemoglobin, the red molecule inside blood cells that carries oxygen around the body. Outside the protective environment of the red cell, hemoglobin can be toxic.

Hemoglobin normally changes color from red to claret as it transfers oxygen around the body. However, when it is damaged the iron in hemoglobin is oxidized (like a car rusting) to produce dysfunctional brown and green products.

“Basically, hemoglobin produces free radicals that can damage the heart and kidneys,” explained Professor Cooper. “The trick with artificial blood is to modify the molecule to be less toxic, but still perform the vital role of carrying oxygen around the body. No one has managed this yet.”

What makes Professor Cooper’s group engineered hemoglobin so special is that it is less toxic.

Tags: medicine