Leukemia treatment using lab-grown blood ‘tantalizingly close’

artifical blood

A bone marrow transplant is often the only chance for survival [for patients with leukemia and other blood disorders]…Unfortunately, like organ transplants, finding a matching donor places a chokehold on the entire process.

For 20 years, scientists have been trying to find a way to beat the odds. Now, two studies…suggest they may be “tantalizingly close” to being able to make a limitless supply of blood stem cells, using the patient’s own healthy tissues.

Using a magical mix of seven proteins called transcription factors, the team [of the first study] coaxed lab-made human stem cells into primordial blood cells that replenished themselves and all components of blood.

The second study…took a more direct route, turning mature cells from mice straight into genuine blood stem cells indiscernible from their natural counterparts.

However, [Dr. Carolina Guibentif at the University of Cambridge] points out that both studies have caveats. A big one is cancer…What’s more, the virus used to insert the factors into cells may also inadvertently turn on cancer-causing genes.

That said, neither team found evidence of increased risk of blood cancers. Guibentif also acknowledges that future studies could use CRISPR in place of transcription factors to transform cells into blood stem cells on demand, further lowering the risk.

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: Limitless Lab-Grown Blood Is ‘Tantalizingly Close’ After 20 Years

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