ABOT only acts like red blood cells, not the entire blood. To fill the role of plasma or platelets, other technologies can be used as well as donations. We envision working on this as well in the future.
The blood types of current RBCs are due to sugars attached to the cellular membrane. Since our solution is only an aptamer, it wouldn’t have a blood type. Not only could this be used in any human, but the aptamer could also be used in different species.
Just like with normal RBCs, there is an intravenous needle attached to the bag of ABOT with a regulator to ensure the correct dosage for the patient.
Normal blood clots due to platelets activating and binding groups of RBCs into a sort of barricade. Since ABOT is significantly smaller than RBC, it won’t be able to contribute to clotting. This is both a positive with no blood clots in veins but also disadvantageous since it won’t be able to help in the clotting of the vein walls. This being said, vein clotting will only be slowed down because ABOT will never represent 100% of a person’s blood.
High concentrations of DNA are known to cause non-newtonian effects (imagine jello). However, a paper analyzed DNA oligonucleotides and found that these effects only appeared at a concentration of 125 mg/mL. While these oligonucleotides are a worst-case scenario, and our aptamer would likely be even less viscous, our aptamer would never be present at a high enough concentration to cause these effects. Even if all of somebody’s blood was replaced by ABOT, the concentration would still be below this level.
Administering only RBC is a standard practice in the sector. ABOT will never be administered in an uncontrolled manner, though. Just like any other medication, its dosage will be controlled to avoid over-oxygenation of the blood.
ABOT is designed to replicate RBC as closely as possible, and its easily evolvable nature makes it easy to fix any unexpected side effects during trials.
Aptamer-Based Oxygen Transporters (ABOT) will flow through the bloodstream and act with other RBCs to deliver oxygen to all parts of the body. It should not have any un-designed interactions with the blood. If this comes up as a problem, we can use the evolution process to correct it.
While the final results will depend on the evolution process, ABOT will likely be more effective at transporting oxygen than natural hemoglobin. Even if a molecule of ABOT is the same strength as hemoglobin, ABOT will be more concentrated due to the lower molecular weight of DNA.
No. The only possible issue with size would be entering the lungs, but since plasma is even smaller, the fact it doesn't spill into the lungs means that ABOT won't either. It's actually a benefit, because its small size means it may be able to pass through certain blocked arteries.
An aptamer is a tangle of DNA or RNA that sticks to a specific molecule. Aptamers have a specific shape that lets them stick to a molecule like two puzzle pieces. Read more about aptamers here.
At the moment, LNA can only be synthesized using the phosphodiester method. Regardless of any future advances, aptamer synthesis would have to be done in-house.
Aptamers are a very versatile biomedical technology. We are able to evolve them to have certain desired performances. We do this by letting large quantities of them tangled up in different ways while applying mutations and then using chemical tests to wash away all those that perform the worst. Rinse and repeat until we have desired behavior. This lets us make design changes on the fly and improve the product over time.
Once the ABOT aptamer has been evolved once, we can sequence its DNA to then replicate it as many times as we want to produce a product. If any changes are needed, we can continue evolving this sequence to improve performance. This means the expensive RND is only done once.
ABOT can actually be stored indefinitely in a dried form which can be later rehydrated and diluted for infusion. This mitigates two of the biggest disadvantages of current blood, namely blood being perishable and needing very controlled conditions (no more than a total of 10 minutes >0C). Our product can be stored indefinitely at room temperature and for 6 months at 37 degrees.
This depends on whether we’re able to replicate ABOT using PCR. If ABOT can be replicated using PCR, we’d be able to manufacture it in almost any basic lab. If not, we’d need more advanced facilities for phosphodiester synthesis.
We can’t predict the final price of ABOT before it has been designed and we set up the logistics needed for its synthesis. However, our goal is a lower price than natural blood ($200-$300).
This depends on whether we can replicate ABOT using PCR. If this is possible, we could quickly scale to replace the majority of blood used around the world. If not, scaling would be more difficult, but not impossible.
ABOT is, first and foremost, a solution to low blood supplies. That being said, its price will in the future be lower than the price of processing donations of RBC, saving the healthcare sector money. The fact that ABOT can also be stored in above 0 temperatures and for longer periods of time than normal RBC means it can also have many interesting applications in developing nations and humanitarian scenarios.
We do not plan on selling directly to patients. Instead, we will partner with blood authorities like Blood Services Canada and hospitals to supply directly to them.