Engineering and design of blood substitutes.

Overview

Clinical experiences with chemically modified and genetically engineered hemoglobin blood substitutes have uncovered new side-effects that must be addressed before a viable oxygen-carrying alternative to blood can be developed. These include, among others, vasoactivity and rapid autoxidation resulting in free-radical-mediated toxicity. Research is now being directed towards understanding the mechanisms of these toxic side-effects and developing methods of overcoming them.