The method uses cells from a patch of a person’s skin and transforms it into blood that is a genetic match, without using human embryonic stem cells, said the study in the journal Nature.

By avoiding the controversial and more complicated processes involved with using human embryonic stem cells to create blood, this approach simplifies the process, researchers said.

“What we believe we can do in the future is generate blood in a much more efficient manner,” said study author Mick Bhatia of the McMaster’s Stem Cell and Cancer Research Institute in the Michael G DeGroote School of Medicine.