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“Blood type is determined by the presence of antigens on the surface of red blood cells; type A blood has the A antigen, B has the B antigen, AB blood has both antigens and O blood has none,” UBC chemistry professor Stephen Withers said in a news release. “Antigens can trigger an immune response if they are foreign to the body, so transfusion patients should receive either their own blood type, or type O to avoid a reaction. That’s why O blood is so important.”

Withers and his team previously developed enzymes that were capable of stipping away antigens, but this new kind is much more powerful and efficient.

An enzyme-driven process was first discovered in 1982 and research has carried on ever since.

“The (1982) enzyme was incredibly inefficient,” he said. This newly-discovered enzyme is “thousands” times better.

“The genomic revolution..has led us to this.”

Previous research has uncovered a similar process for type-B blood, but Withers said making this work with type-A blood was much more important, given how common the blood type is.

“The other big key: our enzyme works on whole blood,” he said. Previous research only worked on blood that had been broken down into component parts. With this new process, blood taken straight from donors could be quickly converted into type-O negative, without much delay.

“If it all works it will have a big practical advantage.”

After looking at millions of microorganisms, they determined that the environment in which the desired enzymes might be found is the mucosal lining of the human gut, which contains sugars that are similar in structure to blood antigens.