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blood substitute |
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blood substitute, substance that mimics the function of blood. Blood substitutes typically concentrate only on reproducing the function of hemoglobin hemoglobin (hē`məglō'bĭn) ..... Click the link for more information. , the molecule that carries oxygen through the body, and do not attempt to replicate the blood's other functions. Blood donated by humans must be refrigerated, can be contaminated by such diseases as AIDS AIDS or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, fatal disease caused by a rapidly mutating retrovirus that attacks the immune system and leaves the victim vulnerable to infections, malignancies, and neurological disorders. ..... Click the link for more information. and hepatitis Hepatitis A, also called infectious hepatitis, occurs sporadically or in epidemics, the virus being present in feces and transmittable via contaminated food (e.g., food prepared by an infected person with unwashed hands or fresh food washed or grown with contaminated water) or ..... Click the link for more information. , and is often in short supply. Designers of blood substitutes hope to eliminate these problems and develop genetically engineered or chemical products that will be tolerated by people of all blood types. Some blood substitutes under development use hemoglobin derived from human blood that is too old for use in blood transfusions. How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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Northfield is a medical research company that has produced PolyHeme, a blood substitute that's in its third and final stage of FDA testing. In the 1960s, researchers tried to circumvent complications from cell-surface antigens by making a blood substitute using free hemoglobin extracted from cells. SYBD currently is developing three products: Oxycyte(TM), a perfluorocarbon-based blood substitute and therapeutic oxygen carrier; Fluorovent(TM), a perfluorocarbon liquid ventilation product; and an implantable glucose biosensor for continuous monitoring of blood glucose levels in diabetics. |
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