Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Blood banks

  • Blood policies and bioart in the 1900s

    Christopher HubbardOhio, United States Policies related to blood that were adopted in the U.S. during the early to mid-1900s produced cultural and legal effects for certain populations. In 1920, for example, the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act was passed by Congress,1 which modified how identity classifications and boundaries would be drawn up. The act classified an…

  • Blood’s journey: From lab technology to industrial technology

    Cristina Sans-PonsetiBarcelona, Spain Nowadays, it is usual to see donation centers storing blood worldwide. Blood banks meet the demand for blood in order to perform transfusions and produce plasma-based products.1 The use of blood in industrial processes resulted from historical and social contingencies. Our knowledge of the human body, including blood, has changed substantially, along…

  • The paradox of blood donation

    Beukou SteveLimbe, South-West Cameroon “Please I urgently need a donor who is blood group O rhesus negative for my sister to be operated. Please tell any of your friends.” These types of messages have become the newest type of notifications on our social media platforms in Cameroon. The notifications, while made up of  different combinations…

  • The past and future of blood banking

    Eva Kitri Mutch StoddartSaigon, Vietnam Blood oozes allure. The elixir of life, viscous and dramatic scarlet, courses through the veins of every living human. Blood has been viewed as sacred for centuries. Aristocrats used to sip at it to stoke their youth and vitality. Bram Stoker’s quintessential vampire novel, the revered Dracula, was published in…