Blood Transfusions | Leechfest Ep 25

People have always known that blood plays an integral role in health and disease, and have developed lots of treatments around blood, including bloodletting. However, they quickly figured out that while getting blood out is easy, putting blood back in is a lot more difficult, partly because of the complexity of the circulatory system, because of a lack of tools, and lastly, because blood has a tendency to turn bad when you mix it improperly. But all is ahead: the field of transfusion medicine has much in store, plastic blood may become a reality in the future. P.S. A quick correction: at the end, we talk about embryonic stem cells being collected from aborted fetuses. While fetal stem cells are also used in research, embryonic stem cells are actually collected from discarded, non-implanted embryos (typically obtained from clinics performing IVF procedures). See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.