Precision Transfusion Medicine in the Omics Era

Area of Science:

• Transfusion Medicine
• Genomics
• Metabolomics
• Proteomics
• Precision Medicine

Background:

• Transfusion medicine has long used precision techniques like compatibility testing and hemovigilance.
• Currently, blood is often viewed as a commodity rather than a dynamic biologic product with rich molecular data.
• The field is poised to advance into a more molecular, longitudinal, and predictive precision medicine era.

Purpose of the Study:

• To advocate for extending the precision framework in transfusion medicine into a molecular, longitudinal, and predictive era.
• To explore how omics approaches can enhance blood products and inform transfusion efficacy.
• To envision blood systems as distributed public health observatories.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing omics approaches, particularly genomics and repeated metabolomic or proteomic profiling of donors.
• Connecting donor biology to blood product quality, storage, and post-transfusion outcomes.
• Integrating artificial intelligence for donor recruitment, retention, and system resilience.

Main Results:

• Omics profiling can define stable donor traits and track physiologic changes.
• This approach links donor biology to storage quality, transfusion performance, and recipient outcomes.
• Longitudinal donor testing can create public health observatories and digital donor twins.

Conclusions:

• The concept of a "blood unit+" emerges, offering enhanced biologic context beyond compatibility and availability.
• This vision supports deeper phenotyping across the vein-to-vein continuum, including recipients.
• Integrating molecular data strengthens blood systems against demographic shifts and enhances donor reciprocity.