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.