Blood Transfusions Using Cultured Blood

Our blood is the most accessible and replaceable component in our bodies.  As such, we can use blood from other humans in order to perform a blood transfusion that save many lives each day.  The current problem with blood transfusions is with the donation process and the different blood types out there. This causes many blood banks and hospitals to run low on the heavily needed blood, due to needing so many people with various blood types to donate, and could pose a serious issue if it were to persist over a large amount of time.

Scientists in a Paris-based lab facility have successfully injected lab cultured red blood cells into a human without rejection.  The scientists cultured these RBCs by using hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), taken from the same person who would get the injection, through use of certain growth factors that aid in the development of said stem cells.  Once injected into the human volunteer, the cultured red blood cells started the maturation process to put them into action.  These cells also had a fairly normal lifespan, with 94 and 100 percent of the red blood cells injected continuing to be in the bloodstream after five days.  In addition, the scientists also found that after twenty-six days, close to the normal half-life for a red blood cell, there were comparable numbers to regular red blood cells after the same amount of time.

The ability to create RBCs easily would have an extreme impact on the current world because of the constant global crisis of needing blood.  This experiment also shows that we could stop the infections and complications of the current transfusion process at the same time.  This is primarily a result of the person receiving the transfusion donating the HSCs to culture the blood.  To be able to donate the necessary components to save your own life would be a major breakthrough if the technique could get perfected.

Tortora G.J. and B. Derrickson. 2012. Principles of Anatomy and Physiology. 13^th ed., John Wiley and Sons

American Society of Hematology (2011, September 4). Researchers successfully perform first injection of cultured red blood cells in human donor.  ScienceDaily. 19. Jul. 2013. Web.

Childhood Obesity and Taste Buds

Taste is something that most people don’t even think about experiencing in daily life other than after a delicious meal or, inversely, a terrible meal.  However, it is a complex system that is accomplished through the use of taste buds.  These taste buds allow us to taste five primary flavors: sweet, bitter, salty, sour, and umami, with umami tasting like meat.  Although we can taste all of these flavors, we have a higher sensitivity to sour and bitter substances likely due to survival needs.

The experiments conducted on the almost 200 children, with a little over half being obese, were tasting tests that determined whether a child could differentiate between the five flavors and explain the intensity at which a flavor was administered.  The study found that obese children, when compared to normal weight children, would have difficulties distinguishing between both intensities and certain flavors.  These flavors were the salty, umami, and bitter tastes.  This study concluded that obese children have taste buds that are less sensitive than that of their normal weight counterparts.

As we begin to better understand childhood obesity, we can more easily attempt to stop it from happening.  Because we believe that these children have less sensitive taste buds and could be a contributing factor of the obesity, scientists could find a way to heighten the sensitivity of the taste buds.  Another solution could be to find foods with very high intensities to satisfy the cravings that these children have.  Ultimately, this will help the individual from suffering from conditions and diseases that the obese are prone to obtaining.

Tortora G.J. and B. Derrickson. 2012. Principles of Anatomy and Physiology. 13^th ed., John Wiley and Sons

BMJ-British Medical Journal (2012, September 19). Obese children have less sensitive taste-buds than those of normal weight. ScienceDaily. 12. Jul. 2013. Web.