The synthetic blood cells can potentially be fitted with “functional cargo” that would allow them to be used for “therapeutic drug delivery” or “toxin biosensing and detection” within the target’s bloodstream.
An international team of scientists has managed to achieve a potentially groundbreaking feat by successfully producing a synthetic red blood cell (RBC), Science Alert reports.
According to the media outlet, in order to make their “Terminator red cell”, the team first covered donated red blood cells with silica which was subsequently painted with “polymers of different charges”.
Describing their findings in ACS Nano, the researchers outlined several potential uses for their rebuilt red blood cell (RRBC), like “oxygen delivery, therapeutic drug delivery, magnetic manipulation, and toxin biosensing and detection”, as the “modular procedures” they’ve developed allow fitting their cell with “functional cargos such as hemoglobin, drugs, magnetic nanoparticles and ATP biosensors”.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
