What's in a name: are cultured red blood cells ‘natural’?

Abstract

The case of cultured red blood cells (RBCs) currently being grown in a laboratory for future use in human transfusion raises questions about the ontological status of such products of modern biotechnology. This paper presents results from a six-year ethnographic study involving interviews, focus groups and other forms of engagement with the scientific research team and other stakeholders, including public groups, which sought to understand respondents' reactions to cultured RBCs. These cells, derived from stem cell technology, have the potential to address the global shortage of donated blood. How these blood cells are situated within the spectrum of 'natural' to 'synthetic' will shape expectations and acceptance of this product, both within the scientific community and by wider publics: these blood cells are both novel and yet, at the same time, very familiar. Drawing on discussions related to classification and 'anchoring', we examine the contrasting discourses offered by our respondents on whether these blood cells are 'natural' or not and consider the impact that naming might have on both their future regulation and the eventual uptake of cultured RBCs by society.

Patient and public perspectives on cell and gene therapies: a systematic review

“…Studies involving the public generally reported support for cell and gene therapy research [16][17][18]24,29,30,34,38,42,45,46 with most participants in some studies confirming that they would be happy to donate their tissue for research 14,17,22,38 . A study showed that in the West, support for stem-cell research might vary by region with the highest level found among Canadians, then Americans and finally Europeans 46 .…”

“…Twenty-four of these papers related specifically to cell therapy while 11 pertained to gene therapy. Five of the included studies were conducted in the UK [12][13][14][15][16] , eight in the USA [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] , six in Canada [25][26][27][28][29][30] , two were conducted in Australia 31,32 and one each from Belgium 33 , China 34 , Germany 35 , Hungary 36 , Ireland 37 , Japan 38 , Korea 39 , South Korea 40 and Sweden 41 . One study included multiple countries across Europe 42 , three studies were set in Canada and USA [43][44][45] and one included Europe, USA and Canada 46 .…”

Blood, meat, and upscaling tissue engineering: Promises, anticipated markets, and performativity in the biomedical and agri-food sectors

“…Emma King studied the UK cultured blood project from 2009 to 2013 conducting laboratory observation, documentary analysis, and outreach work alongside the cultured blood team ( King, 2015 ). Emma and Catherine Lyall then conducted a study of public reactions to cultured blood, using focus groups and interviews ( Lyall and King, 2016 ; King, 2017 ; King and Lyall, 2018 ). This focus group and interview research was led from Anonymous University and funded by the same Scottish Funding Council grant funding the scientific research.…”

“…The project reported here by Emma and Catherine (Lyall and King, 2016;King and Lyall, 2018) was the first project to look specifically at public attitudes to cultured blood, although work is now being done by a team based at the University of Bristol.…”

“…Given the use of blood in emergency medicine, it is also likely that many people may be transfused in situations in which they were unable to give consent. Public concerns about commercialization and the potential role of private companies in the future replacing the current blood donation system were one of the overarching findings from the study of public attitudes to cultured blood ( Lyall and King, 2016 ; King and Lyall, 2018 ).…”