Bloody Good: Pros of Synthetic Blood Substitutes

Abstract

In today's society we unfortunately have and will continue to face the effects of issues such as war, poverty, trauma, and death; all of which have had an impact on the lives of people within these societies, be it religious, medical or social. An important, yet subtle common denominator present within these issues is blood. Blood and its transfusion have had an enormous impact on these issues and disappointingly, today doctors have been facing increasing difficulties with providing blood to those who need it; mainly shortages and donor complications. Today and in past decades researchers and medical doctors have been increasing their focus on the study of blood and its many fascinating features so as to create a relatively ideal blood substitute. The focus of this thesis is to acknowledge the progressions being made in the creation of blood substitutes and to gain an understanding of the positive impacts it would have on society as a whole. With blood substitutes one would not have to worry about donors, infections, or shortages. We delve into a world full of issues related to blood where scientists strive to create a substance that can meet the important goal blood accomplishes; maintaining life.