Getting fresh, uncontaminated blood to field medical units and hospitals can mean the difference between life and death. Supplies are not guaranteed and often heavily reliant on voluntary donors.
A mismatch in blood grouping can also prove fatal. Sometimes, it's not just the shortage of blood that is a problem. It's the shortage of safe, uncontaminated blood products that's important.
That's why scientists are trying to find an alternative manufactured blood in the laboratory. Some British scientists are hoping to produce enough red blood cells for their first human trials in the next 12 to eighteen months.
One of them is Professor Mark Turner who is hopeful that his team's work on red blood cells will be a precursor to work on other cell types.
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