Bloody Controversial

When life hangs in the balance and blood is needed to save a patient even before the correct type can be determined, there's one lifesaver... Type O negative. With regard to transfusions of whole blood or packed red blood cells, individuals with type O negative blood are often called universal donors. But people with this blood type constitute 9 percent or less of any given ethnic group.

With this perpetual shortage of potential donors, a group of researchers led by Welsh Professor Marc Turner, plan to use stem cells to become the first team in the world to create a supply of disease-free blood that cannot be rejected during transfusions. It's not synthetic blood... But real blood, synthetically produced.


Audio: CBS Radio's Osgood File, March 23rd.
Article: Wales Online, April 16th.