Few things in life can amaze us more than the wonders that science provide us on an almost daily basis. After all, scientists are either inventing revolutionary new things or finding solutions to age old problems even as we speak. However sometimes they make breakthroughs that just astound even the most skeptical of naysayers. Such is the case in Canada where scientists have discovered how to convert skin to blood! With this said, this exciting news brings to mind a question: What does this conversion from skin to blood mean for science?
You heard that right. Scientists at McMaster University in Canada have researched and discovered how to make human blood out of something as small as a 4 by 3 centimeter piece of skin. The astounding thing about this is not only that this can be done, but that we are not talking about a drop of blood. No, on the contrary they are talking about creating enough blood from that small patch to do a transfusion on a normal human being.
Back to the question about what this process means to science. The answer is that it means a big deal and a whole new threshold to embark on. After all, this could mean that people in the hospital who either need blood for a procedure or for some other blood related affliction will no longer have to rely on a blood bank, who are always desperately short or a donor to come forward. The doctor would get the piece of skin required to do this and send it down to the lab. These skin cells would then be placed in a Petri dish and turned into a large number of blood cells.
Also important to note from the science point of view is the fact that this would mean the end of shortages of blood supply at hospital thanks to this accomplishment in Canada. Instead of having to worry if someone has your blood type in the hospital, your transfusion would essentially be coming from you, the actual patient. It is just incredible to think that all this is being done because of a postage stamp size of skin. It can also mean continual testing can be done in labs who before may have lacked product. This in turn could lead to incredible cures not long in the distant future. Researchers can have an unlimited amount of your blood to test and possibly find a cure for you condition.
To be able to find a cure for your condition can be an important thing and this research may very well lead to cures for some of our biggest enemies: Cancer, Stroke, maybe AIDS. Again the possibilities are just endless. What we do not know yet is how long does it take for the new cells to grow out of the Petri dish phase and into that beneficial blood we so desperately need. These are questions to be answered at a later time, but it sure is not hard to daydream about all the possibilities that could arise out of this!
