Processing blood

1. An apparatus for processing blood, said apparatus comprising:

an inlet interface for coupling with a patient to receive blood directly from the circulation of said patient;

a leukapheresis module coupled to said inlet interface for collecting bulk mononuclear blood cells from said received blood;

an enrichment module coupled to said leukapheresis module for enriching concurrently target cells separated from non-target cells in said bulk mononuclear blood cells;

a target-cell modification module adapted to provide gene modification coupled to at least one of said leukapheresis module and said enrichment module, said modification module modifying said enriched target cells;

an outlet interface coupled to at least one of said leukapheresis module and said enrichment module for coupling with said patient to return enriched target cells to the circulation of said patient, said apparatus and said patient forming a closed loop when coupled together; and

a controller for automated control of operation of said inlet and outlet interfaces, said leukapheresis module, and said enrichment module.

2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said controller comprises: a memory for storing data and instructions for automated control of operation of said inlet and outlet interfaces, said leukapheresis module, and said enrichment module; and a processor coupled to said memory capable of accessing said data and said instructions, said processor adapted to perform said instructions for automated control of operation of said inlet and outlet interfaces, said leukapheresis module, and said enrichment module.

3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising means for returning said modified target-cells to said patient.

4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising at least one pump for circulating at least a portion of said blood within said apparatus.

5. The apparatus as claimed in claim 4 , further comprising a pump and at least one valve coupled to said inlet interface for providing said blood to said leukapheresis module and another pump and at least one valve coupled to said outlet interface for returning blood from said apparatus.

6. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said leukapheresis module comprises a centrifuge bowl that uses differential centrifugation to collect said mononuclear blood cells.

7. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said differential centrifugation is conducted by a continuous flow system.

8. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the target cells are hematopoietic progenitor cells.

9. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the target cells are mesenchymal cells.

10. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the target cells are T lymphocytes.

11. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the target cells are B lymphocytes.

12. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the target cells are monocytes.

13. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the target cells are dendritic cells.

14. A system for processing blood, said system comprising:

means for obtaining blood from a patient; and

a single blood processing device coupled to said obtaining means and said patient to form a closed loop between said patient and said blood processing device, said blood processing device comprising:

means for collecting bulk mononuclear blood cells from said blood by leukapheresis implemented using said blood processing device in said closed loop;

means for enriching concurrently target cells separated from nontarget cells in said bulk mononuclear blood cells using said blood processing device in said closed loop; and

means for genetically modifying target cells in said closed loop.

15. The system as claimed in claim 14 , further comprising means for discarding said non-target cells.

16. The system as claimed in claim 14 , further comprising means for concurrently monitoring the collecting and enriching of said collecting and enriching means, respectively.

17. The system as claimed in claim 14 , wherein said collecting means uses differential centrifugation to collect said mononuclear blood cells and said enriching means uses ligand capture to enrich said target cells.

18. The system as claimed in claim 17 , wherein said ligand is an antibody specific for a cell surface ligand.

19. The system as claimed in claim 14 , wherein the target cells are hematopoietic progenitor cells.

20. The system as claimed in claim 14 , wherein the target cells are mesenchymal cells.

21. The system as claimed in claim 14 , wherein the target cells are T lymphocytes.

22. The system as claimed in claim 14 , wherein the target cells are B lymphocytes.

23. The system as claimed in claim 14 , wherein the target cells are monocytes.

24. The system as claimed in claim 14 , wherein the target cells are dendritic cells.