Health Rounds: Scientists change kidney blood type, a potential advance for transplant recipients

(This is an excerpt of the Health Rounds newsletter, where we present latest medical studies on Tuesdays and Thursdays.)

By Nancy Lapid

(Reuters) -Researchers have converted a blood type A kidney to a blood type O kidney and successfully transplanted it, they reported in Nature Biomedical Engineering, an advance that could reduce wait times for new organs and save lives.

Type O patients, who account for more than half of those on kidney waiting lists, can only receive organs from donors with type O blood, yet type O kidneys are often given to others because they are universally compatible. As a result, type O patients typically wait two to four years longer and many die waiting, the researchers said in a statement.

Traditional methods for overcoming blood-type incompatibility require d