Key genes in the human immune system are evolving generation by generation – causing massive problems for transplant matches, researchers have warned.
HLA matching is used to find donors for transplants – but the new study says this may become increasingly difficult.
The genes are thought to act like an ID card, enabling the immune system to distinguish cells from its own body from foreign particles.
According to researchers from Nottingham University, UK, and the University of California, Berkeley, keeping up with HLA genes may prove a "near hopeless challenge."
They say there are already a million variations of the genes known to exist.
The findings have been reported in the journal Trends in Genetics.
The researchers say the HLA genes are evolving "much more rapidly" than previously thought.
This may have benefits, the researchers say, because it suggests the human immune system is getting better at fighting illness.
Researcher William Klitz, from the University of California, Berkeley, said: "This new work makes clear the daunting and near hopeless challenge of keeping track of the continuous output from the HLA mutational spigot."
New reservoirs of HLA alleles: Pools of rare variants enhance immune defense. Klitz et al. Trends in Genetics August 3 2012
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