Scientists at McMaster University discovered an alternative way to make blood - all it takes is a fingernail-sized piece of skin to produce enough blood for a transfusion.
The Canadian researchers turned skin cells into blood, a breakthrough that could usher a new way to treat cancer and other blood disorders such as anemia. Giving patients a transfusion made from their own cells would eliminate the chance of the blood being rejected.
The study was published in Nature. The scientists used directed differentiation to turn skin cells into hematopoietic progenitor cells to produce other blood cells.
To transform skin cells directly into blood, the researchers had to inject a virus into a gene called OCT4 in skin cells. The altered cells were then soaked in a solution of proteins called cytokines.
Normally, researchers try to turn adult skin cells into stem cells, so they can turn the cells into any other cell of their choice. But the Canadian researchers didn’t have to do that. The direct route eliminates the chance of the cells turning into tumors.
“We have shown this works using human skin. We know how it works and believe we can even improve on the process,” said McMasters’ Mick Bhatia, in a statement. “We’ll now go on to work on developing other types of human cell types from skin, as we already have encouraging evidence.”
Clinical trials will begin in 2012. Leukaemia patients may be the first to get transfusions made from their own blood. But the researchers envision a day when blood might be lab-grown to fill the blood donor shortage.
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