First DARPA gives us the internet. Now it may give us an unlimited blood supply.
The DARPA award gives Arteriocyte three years to scale up to a self-contained system that could turn out 100 units of universal blood (which could be transfused into people with any blood type) a week for eight weeks. The system can measure no more than 47 cu ft and must stand up to the rigors of frontline military deployment. DARPA then wants to submit the system to the FDA for approval. In the end, if the system works, soldiers and civilian patients could have all the blood they need available on tap.
It could be the agency with the most productive use of tax dollars on research ever.
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