McMaster Scientists Convert Skin Into Blood

Researchers say the discovery could be a major breakthrough for cancer patients.

Cancer victims often find it difficult, if not impossible, to find suitable blood and bone marrow donors. Many have died waiting for a match. Now scientists at McMaster University in Hamilton have devised a way to create new blood out of a patient’s own skin, which would be a direct match to the victim and would have an extremely low chance of being rejected by the body. The findings of the project, which was conducted over a two-year period, were published in the recent edition of the journal Nature. Clinical trials of the process could begin as early as 2012.