Conclusions
There are many
things that the scientific community does not know about artificial blood.
Current techniques are inadequate to create a viable alternative to real
human blood. So many problems occure when trying to create an alternative.
Toxic dimers from unstable clusters of hemoglobin, and vascoconstriction
from cross-linked hemoglobin/aspirin pairs are dangerous side effects to
unproven blood substitutes. Currently scientist are unable to produce
a whole hemoglobin product. This would involve developing an artificial
membrane and putting the hemoglobin inside. Scientists have not determined
a way to solve this dillema.
Primarily, artificial
blood will be used as a fluid replacement in accident victims and surgery
patients, and as a means of carrying oxygen from the lungs and carbon dioxide
to the lungs. With this in mind, we suggest research to move in the
direction of the virus-enveloped hemoglobin. This is a purely biological
arena, and shows the greatest potential for success. Natural hemoglobin
is used, as well as a natural envelope, which should last longer in blood.
Rejection is always a possibility, but remains a small concern compared
to a lack of blood.