ABSTRACT
There continues to be great interest in developing a clinically useful 0 2 carrier
to serve as a red blood cell (RBC) substitute. The goal is to develop a safe and
effective alternative to human blood. Although the current blood supply is safer
than ever due to improved donor screening and testing, it is likely that disease
transmission will always occur (1). This is due to the inevitable occurrence of
new viruses and to the small but real incidence of false-negative screening
tests, often due to the window period of infectivity prior to conversion of the
markers used for screening. In addition, the use of allogeneic blood will always
involve the need for compatibility testing and include a limited shelf life.
