Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I am interested in blood clots and currently I am trying to find ways on where to start in my project. Is it possible to create artificial blood and/or blood clots such as coagulated blood or Low-Density Lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol? if so, I would very much appreciate any help or links I can get.
-114lidia

Hi Lidia,

I would like to help you, but i'm not sure what you are asking. Could you try to define your question or questions clearly.

Are you thinking about the possible role of LDL in the formation of blood clots in the sense of the plaques that lead to arteriosclerosis? Reducing LDL levels in the blood relative to HDL is known to reduce risk of heart attacks and stroke. Taking a daily low dose [81 mg] of aspirin also reduces risk of cardiovascular disease by inhibiting blood clotting.

What are the questions you are interested in and how can you turn them into a science project? What will be your hypothesis? How will you test it? These are all the things you need to answer before you start. Think about what aspects of blood clotting or heart disease interest you most, then repost with more specific details and we will guide you in setting up a great project.

Best regards,

Sybee

I really appreciate that you are trying to help me, it really means a lot.
in regards to being more clear in my questions, I would like to know if there is any way that I can be able to create/simulate real blood.

I am trying to focus my research in possible ways to get rid of clots in arteries and/or veins, but the first step is to be able to create them, and that is where I need help on.

Hey Lidia,

First I just want to say I love this project. Synthetic blood is a fascinating idea. Not to mention an area of very promising research. Anyway I'm not sure if this is exactly what you're trying to do, but creating a synthetic blood substitute is something researchers have been trying to achieve for years. Maybe this page can help point you in the right direction?

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science ... od#slide-1

Thank you very much. This link has a lot of very useful information which I will certainly utilize!!!
Right now I'm in the stage of my project where I have to research and educate myself about the project, and now that I know where artificial blood is at in research, I would like to know if I could get some help on artificial clots, blood clots, most importantly, coagulated blood. Is there a way to create them? What components are found in coagulated blood?
-114lidia

Hi Lidia,

Let me see if i understand your project. You want to investigate how to break up or dissolve blood clots as a way to help people with clogged arteries--so you need a source of clots to test, right? You are not trying to invent artificial blood, just use it instead of real blood.

Well, unfortunately the blood substitutes I found described online ONLY are designed to carry oxygen, not perform the clotting function of real blood. The clotting process in human blood is quite complex. Read the wikipedia entry for Coagulation and you will see what I mean: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coagulation

I see only two possible sources of blood clots for your project--get some lancets that diabetics use for testing blood glucose and get blood samples from yourself and family members, or get blood samples from mice. Working with vertebrate animals such as mice requires special permission, especially if you are proposing to draw blood, but it is possible. It would be best if you could get someone experienced with animal protocols to do this for you. Do you know anyone at a university lab who uses mice in their research?

You have chosen a really interesting and clinically relevant topic, so i would definitely like to see you carry it off. Keep posting on this thread and we will try to help you with the details.

All the best,

Sybee

Your best bet would be using actual blood, but there are some ethical and permission based hurdles to overcome there. If you can get them, the red top blood tubes that are used to draw blood are excellent for getting blood to clot, otherwise you will have to let it clot on it's own. The other option is to mix two different blood types together, but these clots may be slightly different than the blood clots seen in the body due to the healing process.

Thank You SO MUCH!!!!!! this responses are just great, I really appreciate that you tried to understand my project and you guessed it correctly. I will definitely keep on coming here for help, as for now I know what I have to do and I appreciate the help and information you have provided me with. The next step in my project will be working on the coagulated blood.
-Lidia