Artificial Hemoglobin Could Become Blood Substitute
WESTPORT, CT (Reuters Health) – A genetically engineered version of hemoglobin may someday serve as the main ingredient in an artificial blood replacement, according to researchers from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
Dr. Chien Ho and colleagues created a hemoglobin molecule that appears to overcome some of the challenges facing developers of an artificial oxygen delivery system.
According to results published in the November 21st issue of Biochemistry, the genetically engineered hemoglobin appears to grab and release oxygen in a manner similar to the natural molecule. This may allow the genetically engineered version–which has not yet been tested in humans or animals–to be used in a blood substitute product.
Unlike its predecessors, this hemoglobin was much less apt to form permanent bonds with the oxygen it was supposed to be carrying, the report indicates. The investigators plan to insert additional mutations that could make the hemoglobin more stable and, they hope, even more effective as an oxygen carrier.
The molecule “shows great potential as a successful oxygen carrier and is something that could realistically be used in people one day,” Dr. Ho said in a statement issued by the university.
