The Best in Science News and Amazing Breakthroughs
When a life hangs in the balance, blood transfusions can help sustain a patient – but only if the donor's blood type is a match.that can, in lab studies, transform red blood cells into the universal type O with"remarkably high efficiencies" – improving on an idea hatched 40 years ago.
Immune systems that have never seen types A or B will attack and destroy these cells on sight if they receive them in a transfusion, whereas type O blood is far more . For unknown reasons, donor blood was sometimes still incompatible in recipients despite donor cells being stripped of nearly all their antigens.
"Here we report the discovery of remarkably efficient enzymes, not only against A and B antigens but also against their extensions," Mathias Jensen and Linn Stenfelt, two bioengineers at the Technical University of Denmark,Importantly, for potential clinical use, the enzymes were incubated with high concentrations of red blood cells, at room temperature and for only 30 minutes – improving on the longer processing and less efficient conditions of previous candidates.
United Kingdom Latest News, United Kingdom Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
New antibiotic class effective against multidrug-resistant bacteria discoveredScientists at Uppsala University have discovered a new class of antibiotics with potent activity against multi-drug resistant bacteria, and have shown that it cures bloodstream infections in mice. The new antibiotic class is described in an article in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Read more »
Your Gut Bacteria May Determine Your Risk for ObesityResearch into germs that travel through the human digestive tract shows that some may promote obesity while others might help prevent it. Not only that, but those microbes may act differently in men versus women, the same study found. 'Our findings reveal how an imbalance in...
Read more »
Cholesterol-gobbling gut bacteria could protect against heart diseaseSneha Khedkar is a biologist-turned-freelance-science-journalist from India. She holds a master's degree in biochemistry and a bachelor's degree in microbiology and biochemistry. After her master's, she worked as a research fellow for four years, studying stem cell biology.
Read more »
Specific Gut Bacteria Found to Lower Cholesterol and Reduce Heart Disease RiskResearchers have discovered that specific gut bacteria can lower cholesterol and reduce heart disease risk. The study identified Oscillibacter bacteria that metabolize cholesterol, potentially paving the way for microbiome-based interventions to decrease cholesterol levels in humans.
Read more »
Gut Bacteria's Influence on Obesity Differs in Men and WomenDifferent bacterial species affect the onset and development of obesity in men vs women.
Read more »
Gut Bacteria Differences in Men and Women Linked to ObesityNew research suggests that gut bacteria predictive of body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, and fat mass are different in men and women, indicating that interventions to prevent obesity may need to be tailored accordingly.
Read more »