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Pastimes : Georgia Bard's Corner -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: bob sims who wrote (3635)	7/12/1998 2:19:00 AM
From: out_of_the_loop	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 9440

<<< BTW: Would it be possible to clone blood or make an artificial self replicating liver to produce RBCs>>> Good question. Technically, one could produce a cloned liver, so to speak. The liver is one organ that is capable of regenerating itself and some transplants are done now using "partial" livers from live donors. Whether or not true "cloning" has been done I do not know. If it is done from a fetal liver, there will still be red blood cell compatibility issues beyond the ABO type. This is why the cell-less oxygen delivery system is so desirable, not to mention other transfusion-related issues associated with white blood cells (although they can be filtered out). Liver cells can be grown in culture and liver cells are the second site of fetal red blood cell production (the first is the yolk sac and the third is the final place of blood cell production, the bone marrow). I honestly do not know if the correct "microenvironment" of culture is suitable for stimulating blood cell production. Prospector relates to me that the current material under study is "second generation" so maybe I'll look further into the studies done with the "first generation". If anyone has any such info, it would be helpful in pointing me to the right place. I guess skimming the thread from the company will be helpful. I wasn't discounting the idea at all, just discounting the significance of very preliminary studies in the big scheme of getting something approved for human use on a large scale.