Fluid replacements like saline solution became popular, as did dried plasma, but blood remained irreplaceable. Increasingly, surgeons came to use specific components of blood like red cells, plasma and albumin, and researchers derived dozens of blood products. The pooling of donations for the manufacture of these drugs, however, greatly increased the likelihood of blood-borne diseases like hepatitis. But substitutes have several advantages over the real thing. Chiefly, they are disease-free.
Scientists have substitutes for some components of blood.
For example, hemophiliacs, who were struck down by tainted blood, now routinely use an artificial clotting factor which is cloned. But Chang stays focused on whole cell research. Artificial red cells, for example, would be a god-send in the emergency room because they would allow doctors to infuse blood without worrying about allergic reactions to the wrong blood type. Artificial blood can be stored for six months or more, while blood components have a limited shelf life, from a few days for platelets to 42 days for red cells. These storage limitations make it difficult to ensure an adequate supply, particularly in extreme conditions like war.