Monday, March 23, 2009

vampires rejoice

... at the prospect of unlimited supplies of human blood from the tap at their local:

British scientists to create 'synthetic' blood

But seriously, this was about time, as people are dying when blood reserves are running out, or getting too old, or lacking nitric oxide, or have been infected with some pathogen that nobody expected. This endeavour is a brilliant example of how cells from a single "leftover" embryo from IVF -- remember this is a clump of identical cells, which has never been inside a human being, and which would otherwise be thrown away -- can save hundreds of lives. According to the report in the Independent, cited above, we're three years away from clinical trials.

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