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AS IT HAPPENED Wildfire reaches Jasper Wednesday night, causes 'significant loss'
One of two wildfires threatening Jasper National Park reached the townsite Wednesday night and caused 'significant loss.'
Described as a world first, lab-grown red blood cells have been transfused into people for a clinical trial in the United Kingdom.
Known as the RESTORE trial, the joint initiative between National Health Service Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) and the University of Bristol, along with the University of Cambridge and other organizations, used blood cells grown from donated stem cells.
A small amount of this blood — between five and 10 millilitres or one to two teaspoons — was then transfused into two volunteers.
It's a process that has been about 10 years in the making, Ash Toye, a professor of cell biology at the University of Bristol and NHSBT principal investigator, told CTV News Channel on Tuesday.
He said while it will take about a year for the data to come in, no adverse events have been reported and the blood has performed as well, and as safely, as it possibly could.
If proven safe and effective, researchers say the lab-grown blood cells could help treat people with blood disorders, such as sickle cell, and rare blood types — who often have difficulty finding well-matched donors.
"The ideal thing here is that effectively, you can take blood from any donor and grow that blood up from the stem cells," Toye said.
"So if the donor is a rare donor, we can basically extend their gift as a blood donor and grow more cells from the initial donation, and this means we get more rare blood."
The researchers say that if manufactured cells do last longer in the body, patients would not need transfusions as often as they otherwise would.
Moving forward, at least 10 participants will receive two mini-transfusions at least four months apart. One transfusion will be standard donated red cells and the other will be lab grown.
"We hope our lab-grown red blood cells will last longer than those that come from blood donors," chief investigator Cedric Ghevaert, professor in transfusion medicine and consultant hematologist at the University of Cambridge and NHSBT, said in a statement.
"If our trial, the first such in the world, is successful, it will mean that patients who currently require regular long-term blood transfusions will need fewer transfusions in future, helping transform their care."
One of two wildfires threatening Jasper National Park reached the townsite Wednesday night and caused 'significant loss.'
Alberta has called in the Canadian Armed Forces to help assist with the worsening wildfire situation in the province.
U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday delivered a solemn call to voters to defend the country's democracy as he laid out in an Oval Office address his decision to drop his bid for reelection and throw his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris.
Staff at a Barrie child care centre say they are frustrated by what they call a local MPP's inadequate response after a car crashed through a window in one of the toddler rooms.
The North American Aerospace Defence Command (Norad) intercepted two Russian and two Chinese bombers flying near Alaska Wednesday in what appears to be the first time the two countries have been intercepted while operating together.
An analyst and an assistant coach with Canada Soccer are being removed from the Canadian Olympic Team and 'sent home immediately,' according to the Canadian Olympic Committee.
After a handful of Australian water polo players tested positive for COVID-19 this week, questions have emerged around how the spread of the disease will be mitigated at the Summer Olympic Games in Paris.
A B.C. man who was hired to help a non-profit build a food hub but instead spent the money on personal expenses – including travel, restaurants, booze and cannabis – has been ordered to pay more than $120,000 in damages.
Two people are dead and two others suffered serious injuries following a shooting that police have described as a 'gun battle' outside a plaza in Scarborough, Ont. early Wednesday morning.
A local First Nations elder and veteran is helping to bring the Ojibwe language to a well-known film for the first time.
A cat who fled her Montreal home nearly a decade ago has been reunited with her family after being found in Ottawa.
A woman in Waterloo, Ont. is out thousands of dollars for a car crash she wasn’t involved in.
A swarm of bees living in a lamppost in Winnipeg’s Sage Creek neighbourhood has found a new home for its hive.
Around 100 acres of Manitoba Crown Land near the Saskatchewan border is being returned to the Métis community.
Nova Scotia is suspending the licensed Cape Breton moose hunt for three years due to what the province is calling a “significant drop” in the population.
A well-known childhood prank known as 'nicky nicky nine doors,' or 'ding dong ditch,' has escalated into a more serious game that could lead to charges for some Surrey, B.C. teens.
It's been more than a month since their good friend was seriously hurt in an accident and two teens from Riverview, N.B., are still having a hard time dealing with it.
Halifax bridges have collected thousands of coins from around the world.