NEW DELHI: The blood group barrier is set to come down. In a
breakthrough that can make all humans universal donors, Danish
scientists have converted A, B and AB blood types into type O, the
universal donor blood which can be given to anyone in need of a
transfusion.
The "inexpensive and efficient technique" involves isolating
bacterial glycosidase enzymes that safely remove sugar molecules
from red blood cells (RBCs). RBCs have complex sugars on their
surfaces that determine the blood type.
Use of particular enzymes to convert blood group has long been
proposed, but proved to be impractical due to inefficiency and
incompatibility of available enzymes. These enzymes are the key to
removing sugars to render the treated blood into type "O". Now a
team from University of Copenhagen says enzymes discovered in the
latest study have successfully overcome earlier complications. The
team, led by cellular biologist Henrik Clausen, which discovered
two enzymes that chopped the A and B sugars off RBCs, believes the
latest discovery will help solve blood shortage problems and ensure
safe transfusions.
The team isolated blood from healthy individuals, converted RBCs to
type O, and injected them back into donors. When it showed no side
effects, a larger clinical trial was conducted. No adverse
reactions were reported. The study has been published in Nature
Biotechnology.
The technique could be of considerable relevance to India even
though professionals stress the need for more trials. "Patient
trials is needed before this method can be used in hospitals. If
proved effective on a large scale, it would substantially reduce
pressure on blood supply. At present, India requires 70 lakh units
of blood annually but faces a shortfall of 40% especially in summer
months when colleges, the main source of voluntary blood, are
closed, said Khushroo Pocha, founder of blooddonors.com, which
has 45,000 registered donors.
