wait a minute... IIRC, wasn't this was anounced like a year or two ago??? still and all... this could save meny lives.
Posted on 04/04/2007 6:38:33 PM PDT by Born Conservative
A scientific breakthrough could help alleviate blood shortages and reduce the danger of accidental blood-type mismatches, researchers and executives for a U.S. biotech firm said yesterday.
An international team of scientists announced that it has found a way to convert Types A, B, and AB blood into Type O -- the universal donor blood group that can be given to anyone -- and the American company that commissioned the research said such "universally transfusible" blood has the potential to solve problems associated with storing, transporting and transfusing blood.
"The prospects for this are huge ... since blood now must be transfused on a group-specific basis," Douglas L. Clibourn, chief executive officer of ZymeQuest, said in a telephone interview yesterday.
The team of Danish, English and French researchers reported this week in the journal Nature Biotechnology that it isolated two bacterial enzymes that break down and remove the sugar molecules (antigens) on the surface of A, AB and B red blood cells that can cause potentially deadly immune reactions in patients transfused with mismatched blood.
Under the so-called ABO blood classification system in use for more than a century, Type O blood can be given to anyone, because it lacks such antigens. But Type A blood can only be given to people whose blood is Types A or AB, and Type B blood can only be used in those with blood Types B or AB.
It is costly to ship blood where and when specific types are needed, Mr. Clibourn said. If the new process proves to be safe and cost-effective in clinical trials, "it will allow all red blood cell products to be transfused to anybody, so it will significantly reduce blood shortages," said Samira Johnson, a spokeswoman for ZymeQuest, based in Beverly, Mass.
(Excerpt) Read more at insider.washingtontimes.com ...
Ping
Big news indeed ping!
ping
I'll do what I can to keep from ever needing it.
wait a minute... IIRC, wasn't this was anounced like a year or two ago??? still and all... this could save meny lives.
it’s good news, but don’t the rhesus group antigens (along with other, more obscure groups) still represent a threat of incompatibility?
I don’t know if this will do anything to change the Rh factor, but at least they can convert A, B, and AB negative to O negative blood. O neg can be given to any blood type, as well as to those with negative and positive Rh.
Believe it when I see A+ given like O-.......
I’ve got O negative. Nice to know I have such WANTED blood.
not to beat a dead horse, but the blood shortage MIGHT not be so bad if Red Cross would stop demanding Social Security numbers.
They come to my work every month, but they won’t let me donate without giving my Social. . . so I dont. :-(
I’d happily give em my drivers license. . . or birthday. . what a weird policy.
Wow!
thanks, bfl
bump
keep garlic, crosses and mirrors handy just in case :)
I'm sure seeing a lot of hype for an unproven product. The stock must be on sale.
This could be revolutionary in that directed donations could become more widely compatible for intended recipients.
The Rh factor is a valid point. However, in an emergency, Rh Positive blood can be transfused to an Rh Negative recipient without a transfusion reaction UNLESS that Rh Negative recipient has been previously exposed to Rh Positive blood AND has formed an antibody to the Rh antigen. Actually odds are something better than 70% that if an Rh Negative individual gets exposure to Rh Positive blood they will NOT become sensitized against Rh Positive blood. I’m sorry that I can’t immediately cite my figures or I would give that calculated percentage which is higher than 70%.
There are some problems I can see with routine use of the Blood Group Elimination enzyme. First would be cost of the treatment including the enzyme substance and the materials and tech time to properly treat donor units while maintaining absolute sterile conditions. Also group O blood is already the most common blood group, so it’s not like it is especially difficult to obtain. Also, what does treatment do to the expiration date and time of the product? I’ll wager that at best the treated blood would have to be used within 24 hours or be discarded.
I see the future of this technology to be a fringe thing. Kudos to the group who came up with it, but I don’t see it revolutionizing transfusion practices.
My husband has O neg., which is always in high demand and low supply. We have a number of O neg. donors that we know ready to give.
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