About HaemO2

About company

HaemO2 is a synthetic biology project based at the University of Essex, UK, that is developing a third generation artificial blood substitute. Hemoglobin is the key protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen around our bodies. A haemoglobin-based oxygen carrier (HBOC) could be used as a substitute for blood lost in surgery or trauma, but to date attempts to make a safe and effective HBOC have proved problematic. The redox activity of heme iron, when outside the safe confines of the red blood cell, is considered a key problem when attempting to engineer a safe (HBOC).