Australian_Science_Illustrated_Issue_52_2017

TARDIGRADES TURN INTO GLASS

The microscopic tardigrades are among

nature’s toughest creatures, which are

able to survive dehydration for up to

10 years. Now, US scientists have dis-

covered that the tardigrades' secret is

special proteins, which are gel-like

in water, but in drought, they turn

into a type of biological glass.

Scientists Can Now

Mass-Produce Blood

British scientists have found out how to produce such

quantities of artificial blood that it can soon save lives.

MEDICINE Scientists from the University

of Bristol in the UK have developed a method

for producing thousands of billions of

artificial red blood cells. The vital cells, which

could solve the lack of donated blood in

war-torn areas and disaster regions, can be

adapted to patients with rare blood types.

Former methods involved stem cells

developing into red blood cells, but they

did not allow scientists to make more than

50,000 blood cells per stem cell – much

less that what is needed to fill one single

blood bag.

The British scientists used the new

method to freeze the stem cells at an early

stage of development, making them

divide almost infinitely. When the stem

cells had divided sufficiently, the scientists

could finally mature them into complete

blood cells.

British scientists have

discovered how to mass-

produce red blood cells for

"donated" blood.

SHUTTERSTOCK & EPPENDORF

EYE OF SCIENCE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Stem cell turns into billions of blood cells

Stem cells can only divide a limited number of times, but a new method

allows them to divide infinitely.

Cells divide

2 Scientists insert special genes into the stem cells,

which freeze the cells at an

early stage. At this stage, the

stem cells can divide almost

infinitely, allowing scientists to

produce plenty of cells.

Cells mature

3

Scientists add

substances that make

the cells mature into red

blood cells. Finally, the

complete blood cells are

extracted via filters and

centrifugation.

Donor donates cells

1

A healthy donor donates

stem cells from his bone

marrow. The stem cells could

potentially develop into any

type of blood cell, including

red blood cells.