A British team will announce a multimillion-pound research project this week to develop blood from embryonic stem cells, the Independent reports.

The team is made up of a consortium involving NHS Blood and Transplant, a section of the National Health Service responsible for providing organ transplantation and blood for England and Wales, the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service and the Wellcome Trust, a medical research charity.

The Wellcome Trust is believed to have promised £3m towards the cost of the project, with further funding coming from the other consortium partners, the Independent writes.

The project will test human embryos left over from IVF treatment to find those that are programmed to develop into the “O-negative” blood group – the universal donor group whose blood can be transfused into anyone without fear of tissue rejection, the report says. The aim is to stimulate embryonic stem cells to develop into mature, oxygen-carrying red blood cells for emergency transfusions.

If successful, the project could revolutionise blood transfusion services, which currently rely on human donors to provide a constant supply of fresh blood.

The project is expected to take three years and will put Britain in the global race to develop synthetic blood from stem cells.

Back in August last year, the Boston Globe reported that Advanced Cell Technology Inc. (ACT), a stem cell company based in Worcester, Massachusetts, in the US, announced that it had created large numbers of red blood cells from human embryonic stem cells.

“It’s really a big opportunity for us, and a big break for early applications of stem cells,” Robert Lanza, chief scientific officer of ACT, told the Boston Globe.

Scientists in countries including Sweden, France and Australia, are also working on developing synthetic blood from embryonic stem cells, the Independent writes.