Researchers have found a way to change Type A and Type B blood into the O blood type, which could help solve shortage problems in blood banks.
The researchers created an enzyme that can "snip" off sugars (antigens) in Type A and Type B blood, making its properties closer to Type O blood, the University of British Columbia reported. Type O blood is the "universal donor," and can be given to patients of every blood type.
"We produced a mutant enzyme that is very efficient at cutting off the sugars in A and B blood, and is much more proficient at removing the subtypes of the A-antigen that the parent enzyme struggles with," said David Kwan, the lead author of the study and a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Chemistry.
To create this amazing enzyme, the team employed a new technology called directed evolution, which inserts mutations into gene codes for the enzyme by selecting mutants that have the ability to cut out antigens. In no more than five generations, the enzyme became 170 times more effective than it was originally.
The researchers demonstrated the enzyme's ability to remove the majority of antigens in Type A and Type B blood. The enzyme must be able to remove all antigens to be applicable, but these are incredible steps towards the achievement of that goal.
"The concept is not new but until now we needed so much of the enzyme to make it work that it was impractical," said Steve Withers, a professor in the Department of Chemistry. "Now I'm confident that we can take this a whole lot further."
The findings were published in a recent edition of the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
