From a J. Neil Schulman article on Organ Cloning:
Cannibalizing organs from other people also entails the risk of
rejection because of incompatibilities, not only for tissue-typing but
also for gross anatomical mismatches. Cloning organs [...] has the
potential of taking a human being's own genetic material and growing
perfect replacement organs which are fully compatible with their
genetic makeup.
The reason for using a person's own DNA, is obviously to avoid an allergic reaction to the antigen markers on a strange organ. But in the blood typing system, there exist types which don't have any trouble-making antigens (such as type O-negative, called a "Universal Donor").
Would it be possible to grow an analogous "universal" internal organ, which didn't have any antigens indicating it was a foreign body? (By editing a DNA sample to remove certain expressed proteins, then growing it into an organ.)
I realize this is technically a science-fiction question :) But - A: it may not be in the near future, and B: I can rephrase it to remove the SF component:
In the blood-typing system, the AB antigens don't appear necessary for proper functioning of red blood cells - are the antigens on a person's own cells, actually needed for any essential functions, or could they be removed, without affecting that person's health?
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