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Science breakthrough - The end of blood types

Enzymes could reduce transfusion blood shortages
04 April 2007

A method of removing antigens from the surface of red blood cells using new bacterial enzymes could significantly boost blood bank supplies.

Writing in the journal Nature Biotechnology, an international team of researchers explain how enzymes from two bacteria – Elizabethkingia meningosepticum and Bacterioides fragilis – can be used to develop universal blood cells, accepted by all individuals.

The concept is not new; 25 years ago scientists in the US showed that a coffee bean enzyme can strip the B antigen from red blood cells. But its weak potency limited its practical applications.

After screening 2,500 fungi and bacteria, a team led by Professor Henrik Clausen from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark has now found two bacterial enzymes belonging to glycosidase gene families that are capable of efficient removal of A and B antigens at neutral pH with low consumption.

This means blood from group A, B or AB can be essentially converted to group O, whose blood cells are safely accepted by everyone.

The next step for the researchers, who are working with US firm ZymeQuest, will be to conduct clinical trials to establish whether the treated blood is safe and effective.

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WOW! This is so beautiful an achievement. Breakthroughs like this will surely change the world we live in. Kudos to the scientists who have worked on this projects and other such projects.

Cheers!!!!

:) Falkor
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