Medicine: Blood Saver

When the Red Cross takes a pint of blood from a patriotic donor, the blood is centrifuged to separate the light-colored fluid (plasma) from the red blood corpuscles. The plasma—60% of the blood's volume—may save a life in Africa; the red residue goes down the sewer, because red blood corpuscles quickly spoil. New York's Lederle Laboratories alone discard over 1,000 pints a day.

Dr. Warren Cooksey, technical supervisor of Detroit's blood bank, thought the red blood cells should be saved if possible—they are the material needed in a large proportion of hospital transfusions (e.g., anemia), are ordinarily given to patients in whole blood purchased from professional donors at $25 a pint. Dr. Cooksey found that, mixed with a simple salt solution, red cells will keep in good condition for a little over a week, provided processing takes place within an hour of bloodletting. At his suggestion, the blood bank will soon send Detroit hospitals 800 pints of red blood cells a week. Cost to a patient: 30¢ a pint.

The hospitals can use only a small part of Detroit's red-cell residue. Parke, Davis & Co., which does Detroit's blood processing for the Red Cross, developed a way to use the remainder to make peptone—bacteria food ordinarily made from various animal proteins (like hog's stomach, etc.). This new human peptone feeds bacteria cultures grown to make tetanus toxoid, typhoid vaccines and other shots for the armed forces.