according to the red cross blood services division every two seconds in the united states someone needs a blood transfusion that means thirty six thousand red blood cells seven thousand units of platelets and ten thousand units of plasma needed each day that this week a new discovery by researchers at the university of british columbia presented at the american chemical society could change everything while only type o. blood is universal meaning it can be given to any blood type a and b. type blood contains sugar molecules called. up until now the challenge has been finding a way to remove those antigens well it turns out the answer was in our guts all along that's right it seems there's an enzyme in our stomach that can break down those sugars and when applied to blood cells removes the antigens even thirty percent better than any other enzyme what this means is that donated blood could be converted into a universal blood type for any patient by using something our bodies already make naturally. now remember there's a long road ahead for the technology being used in the field as the p