Today’s blood supply faces structural constraints that create recurring shortages and safety burdens.

• Global blood supply is limited and uneven, leaving recurring gaps in access to safe transfusions.

• Shortages can occur even in well-resourced systems when donations drop or demand spikes.

• Certain blood types are persistently constrained—especially O negative, which is essential for emergencies but relatively rare.

• Patients who require repeated transfusions (e.g., many people with sickle cell disease) face alloimmunization, making it harder and harder to find compatible units and increasing complication risk.

• Donor-derived blood requires extensive screening to reduce the risk of blood-borne pathogens (including HIV), which adds significant cost and operational complexity.