First human transplant of kidney modified to have ‘universal’ blood type

[Clark]

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03248-5

First human transplant of kidney modified to have 'universal' blood type
Recipient diagnosed with brain death received a type-O organ, which is compatible with all blood types.

• By Rachel Fieldhouse

Scientists have converted the blood type of a donor kidney and transplanted the organ into a person. The procedure — the first of its kind — could improve access to donor organs, specialists say, because the blood type of the donor would no longer matter.
Currently, organs from deceased donors can be transplanted into people only if they have a compatible blood type. This is because the recipient's immune system can produce antibodies to attack and destroy the donated organ if the donor and recipient have different antigens, which come in two types: A and B. Organs that are blood type O do not have A or B antigens, so anyone can receive them.
Researchers from Canada and China used an enzyme to remove type-A antigens from a donor kidney1. The enzyme converts type-A blood into type-O, says study author Stephen Withers, a chemist at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. The type-O kidney was then transplanted into a 68-year-old brain-dead man in Chongqing, China. The organ remained healthy for two days before showing signs of rejection. It produced urine for six days. The results are published in Nature Biomedical Engineering today.
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