Hematology Times
|
|
Blood BankingContradicting evidence for clopidogrel and genetics
 A genetic sub-study completed by a team of researchers from the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, McMaster University in Canada, has found no evidence that previously reported genetic variants had any effect at all on the efficacy of clopidogrel. The team, led by Guillaume Paré, MD, studied 6,000 participants from 2 studies, CURE and ACTIVE. Both trials were supported by Sanofi-Aventis and Bristol-Myers Squibb. Their findings were published online, August 29, in The New England Journal of Medicine. ... [Read Article] Legal experts argue for transfusion consent in UK
©Primera Technology, Inc.
As health policy in the United Kingdom undergoes changes that include putting greater emphasis on patient involvement and choices about medical treatment, Anne-Maree Farrell, PhD, and Margaret Brazier, legal experts from the University of Manchester, argued their point of view on bmj.com. They feel informed consent should be attained from competent patients prior to a blood transfusion. ... [Read Article] Blood cells from embryos for the first time in Britain
Red blood cells
Researchers at Glasgow University in Scotland were the first in the United Kingdom to make red blood cells from in vitro fertilization (IVF) embryos. The research team, led by Jo Mountford, PhD, is part of a project aimed to develop an alternative source of O-negative blood. The project, funded by Wellcome Trust and led by Marc Turner, the director of the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service in Edinburgh, has used more than 100 spare IVF embryos from fertility clinics to establish multiple replicating stem cell lines. ... [Read Article] NHLBI funds blood storage research
©Primera Technology, Inc.
The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) is awarding 9 research grants to study ways to improve transfusion safety, especially in relation to the length of time donations have been stored. Recent studies have suggested that people who receive transfusions of blood that has been stored for more than 2 weeks experience an increased risk of cardiovascular events and other organ damage. Recent shortages in donations have made it important to utilize all blood collected, which means making it safer to use blood that has been stored longer. ... [Read Article] Strides made toward extended blood group typing
©Primera Technology, Inc.
A group of researchers at the University of Lyon, in France, have had some success with a new method for extended blood group typing, called HiFi Blood 96. For this new method to be feasible, it must be affordable and have high throughput to accommodate the 14 million blood donations received annually in the US and the 20 million in Europe. Currently, most blood donations are only screened for a few of the 29 known human blood groups. ... [Read Article] |
|