Created artificial blood that can replace the real one for 48 hours

A person may very well survive several days ifit will lose food or even water, but with severe blood loss, it counts for hours and minutes, and blood-replacing solutions cannot always help, because most of them replenish only the volume, while the function of oxygen transfer by blood remains lost. Blood transfusion is also not always available. For these purposes, a team of researchers from the School of Medicine of the University of Washington in St. Louis created Erythromer - a synthetic analogue of human blood that can carry oxygen for up to two days.

The new development reports Engadget. According to the creators themselves, Erythromer is not a substitute for human blood, but acts only as a temporary means of replenishing bcc (volume of circulating blood) and restoring the function of oxygen transfer to all cells of the human body. To date, substances of this kind already exist - this is primarily recombinant hemoglobin and perfluorocarbons (PFCs). But these substances have a lot of side effects, including allergic reactions, intoxication and even tissue damage.

Erythromer is devoid of the above disadvantagesand is human hemoglobin, available in powder form. To "activate" it only needs to be diluted with a special solution (although saline may also be suitable in an emergency), after which it can be transfused. According to the developers, when using the powder, the risk of infection with various diseases transmitted through the blood is minimal. In addition, transportation and storage, unlike ordinary blood, do not require special conditions, and the shelf life of the powder is 6 months.