Researchers have converted a blood type A kidney to a blood type O kidney and successfully transplanted it, they reported in Nature Biomedical Engineering, an advance that could reduce wait times for new organs and save lives.
Type O patients, who account for more than half of those on kidney waiting lists, can only receive organs from donors with type O blood, yet type O kidneys are often given to others because they are universally compatible. As a result, type O patients typically wait two to four years longer and many die waiting, the researchers said in a statement.
Traditional methods for overcoming blood-type incompatibility require days of intensive treatment to suppress the recipient’s immune system, while the new approach employs special enzymes to change the organ rather than the patient.
