Manufacture of Red Blood Cells from Human Embryonic Stem Cells

Although the current system of blood transfusion is relatively safe and established within the UK, periodic shortages of certain blood groups and residual risks of emerging transfusion transmitted infections (TTIs) make an industrial manufacture process for the generation of red blood cells more desirable. The generation of red blood cells from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) has been completed in vitro but the major challenge lies in making the process highly scalable and economically viable.
Traditionally scale up of cell culture systems requires the use of industrial scale bioreactors, conditions for which must be known prior to use to prevent excessive waste and expenditure. Since little is known about hESCs and their development into erythroid lineage cells this research uses microfluidic systems to find the metabolic limits and requirements of the cells at each developmental stage in order to establish a robust method of scale-up.