The passion of my current postdoc-hood is blood, or to be more precise, the proteins that reside in this vital fluid. So, let me tell you what my research is all about.
I guess everyone has experienced bleeding from big or small wounds. And surely a lot of you must have wondered how the bleeding stops. Wounds stop bleeding because of blood-clotting; the formation of clumps of blood cells at the wound-site.
I guess everyone has experienced bleeding from big or small wounds. And surely a lot of you must have wondered how the bleeding stops. Wounds stop bleeding because of blood-clotting; the formation of clumps of blood cells at the wound-site.
But clotting can also be dangerous. For example, blood clots in the arteries connected to the heart can block blood flow causing a heart attack. To prevent this, heart patients use medication that reduces clotting.
So, here is the bloody problem
Medication that stops dangerous clotting can also prevent normal clotting. So, even small wounds may not stop bleeding. What we ideally need is a drug that stops dangerous clotting without affecting the normal clotting.
