Using enzymes produced by a bacteria that almost everyone has in their gut, researchers have removed the antigens from red blood cells that determine blood type, putting us within reach of producing universal donor blood.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/15069736

Bacterial enzyme strips away blood types to create universal donor blood

“Researchers at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) and Lund University, Sweden, have used enzymes produced by a common gut bacteria to remove the A and B antigens from red blood cells, bringing them one step closer to creating universal donor blood.”

  • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
    0·
    5 months ago

    Well in an emergency, once can be the difference between decades of life or near-immediate death, so I’d still call this a massive win…

    • deranger@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      5 months ago

      Having worked in the blood bank I just don’t see this as a massive win. Win, sure. Massive? ABO issues are a tiny fraction of what the blood bank deals with. If all blood was O neg blood bankers would still have a busy job. I’d be more excited to see a development in reducing TRALI, creating 30 day platelets or something like that. I just don’t see this as fundamentally changing much in the blood bank. More O is good of course, but blood bank is way more involved than that.

      • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
        0·
        5 months ago

        Fair enough. I guess I’ll stop being excited about the good news and instead focus on how it could have been better 😉