Is there a better way to screen blood?

What's the best gift you can give? To the millions of people whose lives have been saved by complete strangers, the answer would be simple: blood. But what exactly happens when blood has been donated, and how do we know it is safe? We chat to Dr Richard Mayne from Oxford's Experimental Medicine Division about genomics, Next-Generation Sequencing, blood screening (...and Star Trek). Could you be a blood-donating hero? Blood stocks are currently critically low, with the NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) group in urgent need of new donors. Click here, and you'll be on your way to saving lives:

You can listen to Is there a better way to screen blood? online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Is there a better way to screen blood? is an episode from Oxford Sparks Big Questions by Fiona Jones.

This episode is 14:52 long.

This episode was published on Jun 25, 2025.

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