With the number of accidents and emergencies we hear about on a daily basis, it's only natural that hospitals would constantly require
universal donors for emergencies, especially when doctors can't waste time on a blood test.
"It is always medically sound to know the blood type of the donor blood, and if not from a
universal donor, the blood type of the recipient patient should also be known," says Dr.
While it is common knowledge that O- is the
universal donor for pRBCs, the same cannot be said for FFP.
O-negative blood, sometimes called "the
universal donor blood," can be administered to people of virtually any blood type, she said.
When they found out I was O-negative,
universal donor, they asked if they could take more.
"It may eventually be possible," he said, "to produce
universal donor cell lines in the laboratory." James Thomson, the first scientist to derive human embryonic stem cell lines, added in his own testimony that strategies to prevent rejection of transplanted cells could include "banking cell lines with defined major histocompatibilty complex backgrounds or genetically manipulating ES cells to reduce or actively combat immune rejection."
Blood Type with Antigens and Antibodies Possibly Present Blood Type (ABO, Rh) Antigens Possible Antibodies O, + Rh A, B O, - (
universal donor) None A, B, Rh A, + A, Rh B A, - A B, Rh B, + B, Rh A B, - B A, Rh AB, + (universal recipient) A, B, Rh None AB, - A, B Rh Reprinted from Pagana & Pagana (1998).
Type O Rhesus negative blood is the
universal donor as it can be given to everyone.
An emergency room nurse inserted an IV (hollow needle) into Jessie to deliver type O-negative blood, the
universal donor. At this point he'd lived without blood for 30 minutes; less than 1 percent of victims survive when major blood loss starves organs and tissues of the oxygen-rich blood they need to function.
"We may end up with
universal donor tissue," he says.
Eventually researchers hope to be able to take all donated blood and produce type O, Rh-negative blood, the "
universal donor" blood that can't harm anyone who receives it.
Cells derived from one person can be used to treat other people, making them "
universal donor" stem cells, the company said.