Organ donation means not only changing the lives of a person, but also of that person’s loved ones, family, that is, changing the lives of dozens of people with that person. This issue, which is to save someone’s life in a way, is of great importance. Work in this area continues unabated.
Scientists from Cambridge University conducted a study that they believe will start a new era in kidney transplantation. This method, which has been discovered to eliminate blood incompatibility in the kidneys, one of the biggest problems in kidney transplants, may be hope for people waiting for a kidney transplant.
A special enzyme turned the blood into group 0
People with different blood types cannot donate kidneys to each other. However, if the kidney’s blood is from group 0, kidney transplantation becomes possible for every patient. In a new study carried out in England, scientists made a kidney transplant possible by molecular scissors, a device used to pass oxygenated blood through the kidney to help protect the kidney, and by converting blood loaded with a special enzyme into O group.
This enzyme removed the blood group markers lining the vessels in the kidney and somehow changed the blood group to O. Tests performed on three donor kidneys were successfully completed. The scientists who conducted the research explained that the process only takes a few hours, and they think this result will potentially affect many lives in positive ways.
The research team’s next work will be to examine how kidneys that change to group 0 will react when given one of the normal blood types. This method will also be carried out with the help of a special device.