Naked Science Forum

General Science => General Science => Topic started by: echochartruse on 03/11/2009 00:55:50

Title: how does DNA react in a blood transfusion?
Post by: echochartruse on 03/11/2009 00:55:50

I would just like to know what happens to DNA when blood is fransfered from one person to another.

Title: how does DNA react in a blood transfusion?
Post by: Nizzle on 03/11/2009 08:22:05

Not much. The DNA isn't swimming around freely in blood. It's packaged within cells (red and white blood cells) and it stays within these cells during a transfusion.

Should a cell rupture during transfusion and should DNA swim around freely in the blood, it would be cleaned up/recycled by phagocytes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phagocyte)

Title: how does DNA react in a blood transfusion?
Post by: Bored chemist on 03/11/2009 18:40:56

There's not a lot of DNA in red blood cells.

Title: how does DNA react in a blood transfusion?
Post by: Nizzle on 04/11/2009 09:01:45

Oh right -_-

how st00pid of me [:)]

Title: how does DNA react in a blood transfusion?
Post by: chris on 05/11/2009 02:52:28

There's actually very little intact DNA in a blood transfusion; this is because all blood is now leucodepleted; that is, the nucleated white cells are removed (to reduce the risk of prion disease transmission), and the blood is also zapped with ionising radiation to denature any viruses that might be present.

Chris