Changes to the requirements for donating blood coupled with the pandemic have led to a drop-off in the number of teens and young adults donating blood.
DARPA in particular has invested in several projects to try to develop a synthetic blood alternative. There’s no chance anytime soon of reproducing all of the functionality of real blood. The research is mostly targeting something that could be transfused in an emergency that could keep someone alive while they’re transported to a care facility (maintain pressure and distribute some oxygen without inducing toxicity), especially something that would be field-deployable with a longer shelf life, preferably without refrigeration.
DARPA in particular has invested in several projects to try to develop a synthetic blood alternative. There’s no chance anytime soon of reproducing all of the functionality of real blood. The research is mostly targeting something that could be transfused in an emergency that could keep someone alive while they’re transported to a care facility (maintain pressure and distribute some oxygen without inducing toxicity), especially something that would be field-deployable with a longer shelf life, preferably without refrigeration.