Doctors, who are always interested in substitutes for the materials of life, last week thought they had found one for blood in transfusions. The substitute was no good in cases where red cells are needed, but where the object was primarily to maintain the pressure and volume of body liquids.
In Annals of Surgery, a group of Detroit scientists described their blood substitute, which is cheap, plentiful, harmless—and comes from the kitchen. The substance: pectin—a whitish, grainy carbohydrate, made from grapefruit, lemons or other fruit. Housewives use pectin to put jell into jellies; surgeons sometimes use it externally as a wound healer.
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