Human Blood Vessels Can Now Be Grown In The Laboratory

Human Blood Vessels Grown In The Laboratory -- The Telegraph

Off-the-shelf blood vessels that could revolutionise heart surgery have been developed by scientists.

Researchers have come up with a way of growing new human veins in the laboratory that can be stored for up to a year and safely transplanted into any patient.

The blood vessels could one day replace artificial versions – which easily clog and cause infection – in a number of operations, including thousands of heart bypasses a year, it is believed.

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Why Human Blood Drives Mosquitoes Wild

Image of the Culex quinquefasciatus mosquito, an insect that is attracted to the sent of human blood. Credit: Kathy Keatley Garvey, UC Davis Department of Entomology 

From Live Science:

When the time came for chemical ecologist Walter Leal to test whether humans make a natural odor that attracts mosquitoes, Leal himself was the first to volunteer.

"I measured my own levels," Leal said. "I thought I would set a good example. If you do it first, then others won't be scared."

In truth, there was little if any reason to be frightened. The scientists were looking only for the substance itself, not trying to find out whether the compound would lure the insects into a blood meal. And they found it — nonanal, a substance made by humans and birds that creates a powerful scent that Culex mosquitoes find irresistible.

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Search For An Artificial Blood Substitute

Professor Chris Cooper showing the changes in blood color.
(Credit: Image courtesy of University of Essex)

From Science Daily:

ScienceDaily (Jan. 17, 2010) — If the current wave of vampire stories is to be believed, humans can peacefully co-exist with vampires.

The Twilight book trilogy has 'vegetarian' vampires living on animal blood, and in the TV series True Blood, Japanese scientists have developed a synthetic blood substitute. However, in the most recent blockbuster movie Daybreakers, vampires suffer a horrific fate when attempting to drink their blood substitute.

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The Operation To 'Cure' High Blood Pressure: How It Works

From The Telegraph:

High blood pressure increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, kidney failure and in general the higher the blood pressure, the greater the risk.

LIfestyle improvements such as weight loss if necessary, exercise, stopping smoking and a low salt diet can reduce high blood pressure but many will require medication.

There are an estimated 15 million people in Britain with raised blood pressure and drugs to treat the condition are amongst the most commonly prescribed drugs.

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Blood Test Offers More Accurate Picture of Health

From Technology Review:

A Seattle company is developing rapid tests for thousands of proteins.

With $30 million in recent financing, a Seattle-based company has launched operations to develop and market inexpensive tests for thousands of blood proteins, offering a comprehensive picture of the health of all the body's organs. The Seattle startup, called Integrated Diagnostics, is developing cheap diagnostics that work in minutes and could be used to detect diseases at early, more treatable stages. The company's technology has been in development for the past nine years in labs at the University of California, Los Angeles, and at the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle. The company hopes to provide tests for early diagnosis of neurological disorders and other diseases.

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Key To Blood Clotting Discovered

From The BBC:

Scientists have discovered a molecular mechanism that is key to regulating the way blood clots.

The team from Harvard University, writing in the journal Science, said the finding could help treat people who have blood-clotting disorders.

If blood clots too much, people can develop a potentially fatal thrombosis; too little and they can bleed to death.

UK experts said the research was important and could help develop new treatments for blood disorders.

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British Scientists To Create 'Synthetic' Blood

From The Independent:

Human embryos will be used to make an unlimited supply for infection-free transfusions.

Scientists in Britain plan to become the first in the world to produce unlimited amounts of synthetic human blood from embryonic stem cells for emergency infection-free transfusions.

A major research project is to be announced this week that will culminate in three years with the first transfusions into human volunteers of "synthetic" blood made from the stem cells of spare IVF embryos. It could help to save the lives of anyone from victims of traffic accidents to soldiers on a battlefield by revolutionising the vital blood transfusion services, which have to rely on a network of human donors to provide a constant supply of fresh blood.

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