[HN Gopher] Enzymes open new path to universal donor blood
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       Enzymes open new path to universal donor blood
        
       Author : gnabgib
       Score  : 43 points
       Date   : 2024-04-30 16:41 UTC (6 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.dtu.dk)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.dtu.dk)
        
       | ashvardanian wrote:
       | Made my day! Progress worth living for!
        
       | downrightmike wrote:
       | 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.
        
       | TSP00N3 wrote:
       | 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
        
         | Terr_ wrote:
         | That's probably a separate and harder problem from this: The A
         | and B antigens refer to the presence of carbohydrates extending
         | from the cell membrane, whereas Rh factor + refers to the
         | presence of a protein.
         | 
         | Since there are different classes of bio-molecules, proteins
         | may need different techniques to remove, alter, or cover them
         | up.
         | 
         | If we do find such techniques, they may have _much_ broader
         | applications in immunology.
        
         | HPsquared wrote:
         | There are three components that can cause problems with
         | transfusions: "A", "B" and "Rhesus". A person can have any
         | combination of those three (8 combinations).
         | 
         | The A/B/AB/O is basically having only A, only B, both, or
         | neither. And the +/- is whether you have the "Rhesus"
         | component.
         | 
         | The basic rule is that you can't introduce new components to a
         | person who doesn't have them in their system, and will be
         | treated as foreign contaminants.
         | 
         | So someone with all three components already (AB+) can take any
         | blood because their system already is used to all three
         | components.
         | 
         | A person with none of the components in their system (O-) would
         | have an allergic reaction to any of the three components being
         | introduced. On the other hand their blood is safe to donate to
         | anyone else as it won't introduce any "unexpected components"
         | to a recipient.
         | 
         | EDIT: ah, I see - article doesn't mention Rhesus. I guess it
         | can convert AB- to O-, or AB+ to O+.
        
       | noah_buddy wrote:
       | Similar news recently about opening up the doors to less
       | compatible donors for PBSC or bone marrow.
        
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       (page generated 2024-04-30 23:00 UTC)