Researchers want to create “universal donor” lungs

Changing the blood type of donated organs could shorten transplant wait times.

Researchers want to create “universal donor” lungs

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images)

In a plastic-domed case at the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute, researchers gave a pair of lungs a new identity. When the lungs first arrived in the lab, they were from someone with type A blood, meaning that there were certain tiny markers, called antigens, attached to the lung tissue and blood cells. But when the lungs left the lab, those antigens were almost entirely gone. In just one hour, the researchers had effectively transformed the lungs into type O.

“This is absolutely amazing,” says Aizhou Zhang, a researcher in the Cypel Lab at the University of Toronto and first author on a paper published this week in Science Translational Medicine that describes the transformation. The experiment is an important step toward giving more people access to life-saving organ transplants. More than 100,000 people in the United States are currently waiting for organs, but often those most in need can’t get help because of one big problem: their blood type doesn’t match the organs that are available.

Zhang works in a lab run by Marcelo Cypel, lead author on the paper and a thoracic surgeon who’s spent years figuring out ways to increase the number of lungs available for transplants. One of his previous innovations was creating ex vivo lung perfusion (EVLP), that plastic-domed apparatus in which this study’s lungs got their new identity.

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Lost Ark im Test: Warteschlangen und Reizwäsche

Trotz Warteschlangen und Gender Lock ist Lost Ark in Europa beliebt. Dabei hat es diese Art von Spiel mit Grind hierzulande nicht leicht. Ein Test von Oliver Nickel (MMORPG, WoW)

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Irre Top-Docs, eine Fledermaus-Lady und die Büchse der Pandora

Sars-CoV-2 und der Streit um die richtige Erzählung: Ein Hamburger Professor macht sich zum Sprachrohr der Lab Leak Theory. Damit stellt er die “internationale Harmonie” infrage, auch Drosten gehört zu den Attackierten

Sars-CoV-2 und der Streit um die richtige Erzählung: Ein Hamburger Professor macht sich zum Sprachrohr der Lab Leak Theory. Damit stellt er die "internationale Harmonie" infrage, auch Drosten gehört zu den Attackierten

Coronadebatte bei Attac: Der Spaltervirus

Kontaktschuld im Kampf gegen rechts: Wie das globalisierungskritische Netzwerk Attac mit Positionen zur Coronakrise umgeht – und an sich selbst scheitert

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Review: Space Force S2 retains the comedic magic, but it’s starting to lose its luster

A sadly shortened season is still a welcome celebration of STEM nerd culture

(l-r) Ben Schwartz as Tony Scarapiducci; Tawny Newsome as Angela Ali; Steve Carell as General Mark Naird; Jimmy O. Yang as Dr. Chan Kaifang; Don Lake as Brigadier General Bradley Gregory; Diana Silvers as Erin Naird; and John Malkovich as Dr. Adrian Mallory.

Enlarge / (l-r) Ben Schwartz as Tony Scarapiducci; Tawny Newsome as Angela Ali; Steve Carell as General Mark Naird; Jimmy O. Yang as Dr. Chan Kaifang; Don Lake as Brigadier General Bradley Gregory; Diana Silvers as Erin Naird; and John Malkovich as Dr. Adrian Mallory. (credit: Netflix)

The Netflix absurdist comedy Space Force was an Ars favorite in 2020, easily winning a spot on our annual list of best TV shows. We loved the show's wickedly sly humor, absurdist set-ups, and unexpected heart. It's finally back with a second season, and while much of the old magic remains intact, it's starting to lose its luster just a bit—perhaps because we only got seven episodes instead of ten (thanks, never-ending pandemic).

(Spoilers for S1 below.)

As we've reported previously, the series was created by Steve Carell and Greg Daniels (who also created Parks and Recreation and Upload). Space Force was inspired in part by the Trump administration's announcement that it would establish a national Space Force. Carell plays four-star general Mark Naird, a decorated pilot with dreams of running the Air Force.

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