Scientists Create Universal Donor Blood with Microbes

Hospitals in America go through 16,500 liters of donated blood each day for emergency surgeries, operations, and transfusions, but it all hinges on compatible blood. A recent article from Science Magazine gave hope for a universal blood type that could revolutionize blood donation and transfusion. Researchers analyzing human gut bacteria discovered microbes that produce two enzymes that can convert type A blood into a more universal type.

Antigens are sugar molecules on the surface of blood cells that determine blood type. If the wrong blood is transfused into a patient, it can cause their immune system to attack the cells. Scientists have tried stripping cells of antigens to mimic type O blood, which lacks antigens and is universally accepted, but with limited success. The new method, from a team at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, uses microbes that latch onto the gut wall and “eat” the sugar-protein combinations called mucins that are similar to the blood type determining antigens found on red blood cells.