Ultrasound-assisted molecule delivery looks to preserve blood for years
Tuesday, April 21, 2020 - 10:00
in Biology & Nature
Ensuring adequate preservation of the millions of units of blood that are donated every year presents a challenge for blood banks, as blood can typically be stored for only six weeks after donation. A potential solution to the problem attempts to dry blood by using a sugar-based preservative that organisms living in some of Earth's most extreme environments produce to weather long periods of dryness. New work in ultrasound technology looks to provide a path to inserting these sugars into human red blood cells, in an effort to help them last for years.