{"id":373403,"date":"2026-07-08T23:46:04","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T23:46:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/?p=373403"},"modified":"2026-07-08T23:46:04","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T23:46:04","slug":"improving-blood-resources-with-silk-cultivated-platelets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/?p=373403","title":{"rendered":"“Improving Blood Resources with Silk-Cultivated Platelets”"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Researchers funded by the EU are utilizing silk-based bone marrow “factories” to cultivate platelets in laboratory settings, reducing our reliance on scarce donor blood resources.<\/p>\n

By Hannah Docter-Loeb<\/p>\n

Daily, hospitals depend on platelet transfusions to halt bleeding, assist cancer therapies, and facilitate recovery from surgeries and severe illnesses. However, one of the most crucial blood products in medicine is also among the most delicate.<\/p>\n

In contrast to red blood cells, which can be preserved for several weeks, platelets survive only a few days. They must also be stored at room temperature, which heightens the risk of contamination and complicates their storage and transport. This situation places hospitals in a continual scramble to ensure adequate supplies and keeps them reliant on donor availability.<\/p>\n

To alleviate this strain, a team of EU-funded researchers is exploring an unconventional solution. They are generating platelets outside the human body by employing silk fibroin, a protein sourced from silkworms.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe generate platelets in the lab to address this constraint and meet the increasing demand,\u201d stated Professor Alessandra Balduini, a hematologist and researcher in the Department of Molecular Medicine at the University of Pavia, Italy, and a principal investigator in the project.<\/p>\n

The platelet conundrum<\/strong><\/p>\n

Balduini and her colleagues from various European institutions have been collaborating on three interlinked EU-funded research initiatives to assemble the necessary tools for reliably producing platelets in laboratory environments.<\/p>\n

Platelets are minute, disc-shaped cellular fragments that assist in blood clotting and halting bleeding. They are commonly utilized in hospitals, especially for oncology patients undergoing chemotherapy, which can significantly diminish the body’s natural platelet synthesis. They are also essential in emergency departments and surgical units.<\/p>\n

Presently, hospitals and blood banks are heavily dependent on donors. The World Health Organization reports that approximately 118 million blood donations are gathered worldwide each year. However, sustaining platelet supplies is challenging due to their short shelf life.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe limitation for platelets is that they can only be preserved for five days,\u201d Balduini noted. Supply can also vary significantly throughout the year. Donation rates often decline during summer vacations, while significant disruptions such as pandemics can swiftly burden national blood services.<\/p>\n

Compounding the issue, around 15% of platelet transfusions necessitate specifically matched tissue types, further complicating the management of shortages.<\/p>\n

For years, researchers globally have been striving to create lab-grown platelets as a more stable and manageable substitute. Nonetheless, duplicating the body’s natural platelet production system outside the human body has proven exceptionally challenging.<\/p>\n

Recreating bone marrow in the laboratory<\/strong><\/p>\n

Within the human body, platelets are formed in the bone marrow by large cells known as megakaryocytes, which release platelets into the bloodstream in response to highly specific biological and mechanical stimuli. Mimicking that process externally is far from simple.<\/p>\n

<p\u201cNumerous laboratories are endeavoring to develop platelets for transfusion, but it\u2019s quite challenging,\u201d remarked Dr. Hana Raslova, research director at the Gustave Roussy Institute near Paris and one of Balduini\u2019s collaborators on the SilkPlatelet project.<\/p>\n

A major hurdle lies in recreating the intricate structure of the bone marrow itself, which comprises several specialized microenvironments, or “niches,” that regulate blood cell growth and development.<\/p>\n

To emulate those conditions, researchers turned to an unexpected substance: silk fibroin, a protein extracted from silkworm cocoons.<\/p>\n

As part of the EU-funded SilkFUSION initiative, which operated from 2017 to 2022, Balduini and her team created a silk-based bioreactor intended to replicate the environment found within human bone marrow. Silk fibroin’s strength, flexibility, and biocompatibility make it exceptionally suitable for mimicking the soft structure of living tissue.<\/p>\n

\u201cSilk is one of the few materials suitable for bone marrow and platelet applications,\u201d Balduini clarified. \u201cYou want a material that can facilitate the process without interfering with its functionality, and silk accomplishes this.\u201d<\/p>\n

The synthetic bone marrow enabled researchers to start evaluating whether platelets could be produced consistently outside of the human body.<\/p>\n

Constructing a platelet production facility<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the subsequent SilkPlatelet initiative, which concluded in December 2025, researchers advanced the concept further.<\/p>\n

Using stem cells, they cultivated megakaryocytes within the silk bioreactor system, envisioned as a bone marrow “factory”.<\/p>\n

The team also focused on enhancing the platelet production efficiency.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Researchers funded by the EU are utilizing silk-based bone marrow “factories” to cultivate platelets in laboratory settings, reducing our reliance on scarce donor blood resources. By Hannah Docter-Loeb Daily, hospitals depend on platelet transfusions to halt bleeding, assist cancer therapies, and facilitate recovery from surgeries and severe illnesses. However, one of the most crucial blood […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":373404,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[179],"class_list":["post-373403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-source-scienceblog-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=373403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373403\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/373404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=373403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=373403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=373403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}