Certain proteins from the blood of Arctic and Antarctic fish may make it possible to store blood platelets at cold temperatures, report UC Davis researchers. The scientists hope their discovery will extend the shelf life of stored platelets in blood banks and lower the possibility of bacterial growth during storage. The results of the study, conducted by Fern Tablin, an associate professor in the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, and John Crowe, a UC Davis professor of cellular and molecular biology, appear in this month's issue of the Journal of Cellular Physiology. A patent is pending on this new technique for treating platelets and the technology has been licensed for commercialization to A/F Protein of Boston. Essential for blood to clot, platelets are important in controlling bleeding and also are widely used in transfusions for patients with leukemia and other forms of cancer. "If it works, this technique could both significantly increase the supply of platelets as well as decrease the number of deaths due to bacterial infections from platelet transfusions," said Dr. Morris Blajchman, an authority in hematology and transfusion medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. According to Blajchman, who is also a medical officer for the Canadian Red Cross, bacterial contamination of platelets is the most common problem associated with transfusions, significantly affecting approximately one in every 2,000 transfusion recipients.