U.S. company Kalocyte is developing an artificial blood that is shelf-stable. DARPA has been partnering with them. They were featured in an article in the New Yorker earlier this year: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/02/10/the-long-quest...
Japanese scientists develop artificial blood compatible with all blood types
51–60 of 68 posts
Re: Japanese scientists develop artificial blood compatible with all blood types
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Currently mostly animal hemoglobin Nope. They're making _plant_ hemoglobin ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leghemoglobin ) to stay vegan. Yes, I was also surprised that freaking plants have hemoglobin. But apparently, legume plants use it to create the oxygen-depleted environment for nitrogen fixing bacteria to work.
DNA alone is not plant or animal. It's effectively saying 1s and 0s can be vegan (or not). Pretty silly.
If it comes from an animal it's not vegan, pretty definitive line for them
Re: Japanese scientists develop artificial blood compatible with all blood types
#53Since production relies on donor blood, I guess this product will not be of any help to members of Jehova's Winesses.
I used to be a Jehovah's witness when I was younger and I gotta say there sure were a lot of accounts of kids dying because their parents and the jws didn't want blood. Sure they got praised for their steadfastness after the fact but I often wonder how many would still be alive. Not to say blood transfusions are perfect or never cause problems but I mean come on.
Re: Japanese scientists develop artificial blood compatible with all blood types
#54Re: Japanese scientists develop artificial blood compatible with all blood types
#55Amazing! Literally the premise of the HBO show _True Blood_ from the 2000s. Japanese scientists invent artificial blood which allows vampires to "come out of the coffin".
OK, I guess we'll wait and see about the vampires. But the blood substitute and Japanese scientists thing was spot-on, at least.
Re: Japanese scientists develop artificial blood compatible with all blood types
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
DNA alone is not plant or animal. It's effectively saying 1s and 0s can be vegan (or not). Pretty silly.
If it comes from an animal it's not vegan, pretty definitive line for them
It comes from neither animal nor plant. It comes from a computer.
There's a strong parallel here how pro-life activists view the use of human stem cells.
Re: Japanese scientists develop artificial blood compatible with all blood types
#57Interesting to see. There's been some other efforts in this space, from blood products derived to chemically derived (e.g. perflurocarbons, which carry many multiples of what hemoglobin can carry, oxygen-wise). There's definitely a need for a safe, shelf stable blood substitute. Though, I'd argue that this isn't artificial blood , it's artificially replacing only the oxygen carrying role of blood -- there's nothing i…
I think most transfusions after blood loss are also only red blood cells, so all these other functions are not transferred.
Re: Japanese scientists develop artificial blood compatible with all blood types
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
If it comes from an animal it's not vegan, pretty definitive line for them
It comes from neither animal nor plant. It comes from a computer. There's a strong parallel here how pro-life activists view the use of human stem cells.
Indeed. It's an ethics issue, so it doesn't mean that it's wrong per se.
And the pro-life activists certainly have a similar argument. They're also welcome to holding it, as long as they don't impose it on others.
Re: Japanese scientists develop artificial blood compatible with all blood types
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
DNA alone is not plant or animal. It's effectively saying 1s and 0s can be vegan (or not). Pretty silly.
If it comes from an animal it's not vegan, pretty definitive line for them
Not really, this is still a point of debate among vegan communities. Many of us have no moral issue with food grown using animal-derived biotech, as this does not require animal agriculture at all
Re: Japanese scientists develop artificial blood compatible with all blood types
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
It comes from neither animal nor plant. It comes from a computer. There's a strong parallel here how pro-life activists view the use of human stem cells.
Indeed. It's an ethics issue, so it doesn't mean that it's wrong per se. And the pro-life activists certainly have a similar argument. They're also welcome to holding it, as long as they don't impose it on others.
I think a lot of the HN crowd would argue that the pro-life belief on stem cell research is emphatically NOT welcome. So there is an element of hypocrisy here.