Enzymes Convert Any Blood Type to O

[anam_moon]

Several major Type O blood shortages, including crises at the National Institutes of Health this fall and throughout Georgia in late summer, highlight the importance of creating a versatile blood type. In the rare instance that someone receives a transfusion of the wrong type, deadly reactions (caused by sugar molecules on the surfaces of red blood cells) can cause the immune system to go haywire.

In April, Henrik Clausen, a professor at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, published research in Nature describing a way to convert any kind of blood into Type O -- the type that almost anyone can tolerate. He discovered enzymes that shear the problem-causing sugars from the surfaces of A, B and AB type red blood cells. Produced by bacteria, the molecular machines could theoretically turn any kind of blood into Type O. Clausen and his colleagues described their search for the pacifying proteins in the April 1 issue of Nature Biotechnology.

ZymeQuest, a startup company from Massachusetts, is now developing a device that hospitals can use during blood shortages.

Information found at this site

Comments

[ladysashi.livejournal.com]

Wow... that is... wow. We may have just solved a lot more problems than blood shortages, if this idea is greatly expounded upon (i.e. infertility due to enzyme/protein incompatibilities, Sickle Cell, etc.). The good this research could do, if used for the right purposes, is astounding!

I know...

[anam-moon.livejournal.com]

The potential applications for such a medical advance are staggering.