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A team of researchers from the University of British Columbia made the discovery
in July. They were studying bacteria in the human gut and their ability to remove
sugars from red blood cells.
Typically, people have one of four blood types — A, B, AB, and O. Each type has
different sugar molecules, called antigens,* which exist on the surface of its red
blood cells. The only exception is type O blood, which has no antigens at all.
Unfortunately, the human body cannot take blood with different antigens. For
example, if a patient with type A blood received type B blood, the immune
system would attack the new antigens. This could even lead to the death of the
patient.
However, type O blood has no antigens, so it can safely be given to any patient.
Type O blood is especially valuable in emergency rooms, where there might not
be enough time to check a patient’s blood type. As a result, demand for type O
blood is high but supply is usually low.
One way to get more type O blood is to remove the antigens from type A blood
using enzymes. So, the team studied 20,000 bacteria genes to find one that could
produce the right enzyme.
The breakthrough came when researcher Peter Rahfield suggested using two
enzymes at once. Together, these enzymes stripped the sugars right off the cells.
There is still more work to be done, but the findings are promising. If the new
method is perfected, it could revolutionize hospital care.