In this episode of NTR's Focus, presenter Petra Grijzen has her own blood cultivated for scientific research. Could this be a solution for the approximately 10,000 Dutch people who regularly need a blood transfusion? Marieke von Lindern from the Sanquin blood bank and a part of the research team of TRACER, is researching how to create cultivated blood. This is done with stem cells from a donor's blood. It could be a solution for people with chronic blood disorders or rare blood types. One of those people is Sthefanne Foppele-van Nes. She suffers from sickle cell disease, an inherited blood disorder where the red blood cells are not round but have the shape of a half-moon, leading to severe pain attacks.
