Australian girl changes blood group, immune system, after transplant
A whole new avenue for
research
An Australian teenage girl has become the
world’s first known transplant patient to change blood
groups and take on the immune system of her organ donor, doctors said,
calling her a “one-in-six-billion
miracle.”
Demi-Lee Brennan, now 15, received a donor liver when she was 9 years old and her own liver failed.
Brennan’s body changed blood group from O negative to O positive when she became ill while on drugs to avoid rejection of the organ by her body’s immune system.
Her new liver’s blood stem cells then invaded her body’s bone marrow to take over her entire immune system, meaning the teen no longer needs anti-rejection drugs.
The superstitious among us will genuflect and consider this a miracle. Scientists - and those who guide their lives with science, with reality, will be curious over a new avenue of study.
Now, the research begins to determine how and why this happened.
Demi-Lee Brennan, now 15, received a donor liver when she was 9 years old and her own liver failed.
Brennan’s body changed blood group from O negative to O positive when she became ill while on drugs to avoid rejection of the organ by her body’s immune system.
Her new liver’s blood stem cells then invaded her body’s bone marrow to take over her entire immune system, meaning the teen no longer needs anti-rejection drugs.
The superstitious among us will genuflect and consider this a miracle. Scientists - and those who guide their lives with science, with reality, will be curious over a new avenue of study.
Now, the research begins to determine how and why this happened.
Posted: Sat - January 26, 2008 at 01:49 PM