32 comments
downrightmike · 20 days ago
Very cool stuff!

"For the first time, the new enzyme cocktails not only remove the well-described A and B antigens, but also extended variants previously not recognized as problematic for transfusion safety. We are close to being able to produce universal blood from group B donors, while there is still work to be done to convert the more complex group A blood. Our focus is now to investigate in detail if there are additional obstacles and how we can improve our enzymes to reach the ultimate goal of universal blood production," says Professor Maher Abou Hachem, who is the study leader at DTU and one of the senior scientists behind the discovery.

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TSP00N3 · 20 days ago
Long time listener, first time caller (finally made a HN account)..

Anyways, can someone please explain how positive/negative plays a factor here? Rh +/- is mentioned once in the article but not discussed as far as being a donor. I was always told O- is the universal red cell donor [1]. Can anyone help explain is this enzyme fixes the +/- component in addition to the ABO component? Thanks!

[1] https://www.redcrossblood.org/donate-blood/blood-types.html

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gorkish · 20 days ago
Enzymes catalysts and molecular scale physical chemistry is really kicking ass recently. Seems that we are tipping over the knife edge of well and truly cracking the code!

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mynameisnoone · 18 days ago
shymaple · 19 days ago
Oh it is awesome progress! This discovery can be a significant step towards the development of universal donor blood. I have seen complications related to blood transfusion and its results. It has immense implications for blood transfusion safety and efficiency. I am curious to see its long term in-vivo experimental results.