First-of-Its-Kind Kidney Transplant Could Lead to More Cross-Blood Type Donations
October 7, 2025
2 Min Read
Scientists perform a transplant of the first of its appearance using a kidney with a converted blood type
A man diagnosed with brain death received a kidney that was modified to be type O, which is compatible with all blood types
Bags of blood donated in a hospital.
ER Productions Limited / Getty Images
Scientists 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 donor’s blood type would no longer matter.
Currently, organs from deceased donors can only be transplanted into people 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. O blood organs 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 kidney. The enzyme converts type A blood to 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. He produced urine for six days. The results are published in Nature biomedical engineering Today.
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The enzyme was first identified in 2019 by some members of the same team. In 2022, they showed that a type A lung could be converted to a type A lung, although the organ was not transplanted in person.
The results are revolutionary, says Natasha Rogers, a transplant clinician at Westmead Hospital in Sydney, Australia. They could improve access to donor organs and reduce transplant waiting lists. If the organ’s blood type were no longer a barrier to transplantation, doctors could focus on things such as matching other antigens unrelated to blood type, which are important in terms of how long a transplant lasts, she adds.
What’s next?
Living donors can give their organs to people with different blood types, but the recipient must first undergo several treatments to reduce their antibody levels, Rogers says. However, for deceased donors, there is not enough time for the recipient to undergo treatments before the donor organ becomes unusable, she adds. The treatment also affects the recipient’s immune system, increasing the risk of infection.
Treating the donor organ instead of the recipient is a breakthrough, Rogers says. The study shows that a person could initially receive the same type of immunosuppression given for transplants between people with matching blood types to reduce the risk of rejection. But more trials in brain dead and trials in living people will be needed before the enzyme can be used regularly, she adds, including adjusting the treatment of the organ or recipient to help the organ function longer.
This article is reproduced with permission and was first publication October 3, 2025.
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