Scientists find way to efficiently change A & B blood types to universal donor

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At a meeting of the American Chemical Society today, Steve Withers of the University of British Colombia presented new research suggesting enzymes found in gut bacteria could effectively strip antigens from the two most common blood types. If successful, the discovery would essentially make most types of blood accessible to those who need it, regardless of their blood type.

For a blood transfusion to work, a lot of things have to go right. It’s an intricate patchwork that requires careful screening of donor blood for pathogens that could make the recipient sick (like HIV or Hepatitis), matching this blood to a donor who can accept it, and hoping there are enough donors to fulfill demand. Or, you can skip a lot of the guesswork and just use blood from type O donors.

Whereas type A or B blood can only receive transfusions from (or make donations to) others with the same blood type, medical professionals can use type O blood with any of the three other major blood types: A, B, or O. Type AB, the other of the four major blood types, works in reverse; it can receive blood from any other type but only donate to others who are type AB.

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Withers’ research centers on an as yet unexplored protagonist: gut bacteria. By extracting sugars from proteins on the gut wall, called mucins, the team learned it could add the enzymes to type A negative blood, thereby turning it into type O negative — the universal donor. “This technique could broaden the utility of the current blood supply because O type blood can be donated to anybody,” Withers told New Scientist.

While there are similar experiments ongoing, Withers’ process is estimated to be 30 times faster, and remains cost efficient. The team still needs to test the process further to ensure there are no unintended consequences, but early results look promising.

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