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A person needing a blood transfusion must hope that the hospital -- or on-the-scene paramedic, or undersupplied clinic -- has a supply matching their own. This isn't always the case, but that could soon change: researchers are perfecting a process to make all blood universal.
There are four types of blood: A, B, AB and O. For types A and B, theletters signify the types of sugar molecules found on cell surfaces.
Give type A blood to someone with type B, or type B to someone withtype A, and their immune system will attack it -- often with fatalresults. However, type O blood cells have no surface sugars and are safe for people with any blood type.
Danish researchers have identified two enzymes that strip type A and B
sugars from blood cells, turning treated blood into universallyacceptable type O. Early results from clinical trials on transmutedblood appear promising. If the process proves safe, the end of bloodshortages and mismatched transfusions could be near....
Enzymes convert all donor blood to group O [New Scientist]
