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It's the show where we bring science.

What that essentially means is discovery is

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this is the naked scientists

Hello welcome to the naked scientists the program that brings you the latest breakthroughs in science technology and medicine with me Chris Smith and

with me James Titco coming up how scientists are growing new blood in the lab the

scientists planning for potential alien communications and why fertilizer may be fooling bees ability to spot flowers.

The Naked Scientists Podcast is developed by UK researchers.

Every day a country the size of ours gets through about two tons of donated blood.

At the moment all of it needs to come out of someone else's arm.

But now researchers have found a way to grow more blood cells from donated blood that could be

used to top up and even maybe one day replace traditional supplies.

Cedric Gaveret from Cambridge University's Department of Hematology

is one of the team behind a trial to put these lab-grown blood cells through their paces in real patients.

So how do you grow this new blood? Cedric.

What we have to do is to take stem cells that are present in anyone's blood

including donated blood and we put them in special solutions with growth factors.

It's a bit like growing plants and feeding your plants.

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