Cultured blood versus donated blood: long-run perspectives of the economy of blood.

Recent advances of fundamental research on the in vitro generation of red blood cells (RBCs) from hematopoietic stem cells in the laboratory open new possibilities of the utilization of cultured RBCs in transfusion medicine. We study the economic challenge of the setup and development of the mass industrial production of RBCs in mature transfusion organizations. We argue that: (i) RBC manufacturing could be set up and developed in the short-medium run for the treatment of the small proportion of transfused patients who have a rare blood type or are alloimmunized against blood antigens; (ii) manufactured RBCs could substitute for donated RBCs in the long run if the physical productivity of RBC engineering technology approaches that of bone marrow.