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More than 100 old age ago , Dr. Karl Landsteinerdiscovered that not all scarlet blood cells are alike . He rule that , when different people ’s profligate was interracial , it would often clump up and curdle , destruct the cells within it . His work on the different type of scarlet parentage cells led to the discovery of the ABO rake group organization , which gain ground him the 1930Nobel Prize in physiology or medicineand also helped make blood transfusion a dependable , reliable practice that savesmillions of livesevery year .
Many the great unwashed do it where they fit into the classic ABO blood line typing system , which designates blood as character A , B , AB or O. But these four canonic line chemical group are n’t the end of the narration .
There are a few important factors in choosing the right blood for transfusions, but the complexities of blood types don’t end there.
So how many blood type are there , really ?
Depending on how mysterious you dig , the response could figure in the hundreds or more — and the listing is still originate .
Related : What ’s the rarest blood type ?
Blood types exist because red blood cubicle , which relay atomic number 8 through the bloodstream , stock different proteins and shekels on their airfoil . These are called antigen . Each person has a specific combination of antigen on the Earth’s surface of their rakehell cells , and that combining determines their origin type .
Landsteiner ’s ABO profligate group system categorizes a somebody ’s blood based on whether they have one , both or neither of the antigen known as A and B. ABO pedigree type is determined by a individual cistron , one copy of which is passed down by each parent .
O is the most common version of that factor — but it ’s recessive , so a person needs to inherit two copies to have an O blood type . Both the A and barn version of the gene are dominant , so they sweep over any written matter of the O factor . have one copy of A or B-complex vitamin will take to an A or group B blood type , respectively , and a person will have an AB blood type if both A and B are present .
" The ABO blood grouping system is the most important descent mathematical group to consider during a blood transfusion,“Dr . Emily Coberly , divisional master aesculapian officer at the Red Cross , recount Live Science in an email . " We all make antibody against the ABO antigen that are n’t on our own red ancestry cells . "
For example , if you have type A blood , you ’ll have antibodies , or protective resistant proteins , that attempt B antigen . So you would n’t want type B parentage in your body . ( Thishandy computer graphic from the Red Crossillustrates the estimation . )
You also may have heard of blood types being " positive " or " disconfirming . " This categorization comes down to another antigen , anticipate the Rh divisor . People with the Rh gene on their cellphone have Rh - positive blood , whereas hoi polloi without the Rh factor are Rh - disconfirming . The Rh factor is controlled by acluster of genes mold multiple antigens , so the genetics are more complicated than in the ABO arrangement , but being Rh - positive is both a dominant trait and more common in the population .
The various combinations of the ABO system and Rh factor create the eight main blood chemical group . In most cases , knowing which of these pedigree groups a person match into is enough to provide them a safe transfusion .
But sure disease can complicate thing , and blood types get even more complex when you consider the hundreds of other antigens present on the surface of red blood prison cell .
What are the other blood types?
Besides the A , type B and Rh factor antigen , there are at least 350 other known antigen on red blood cells , Coberly said . That number is still going up as researcher identify crucial new proteins . If mobile phone build just one of these antigen differently than other cells do , that justify labeling a new , unique blood eccentric . So , theoretically , there are as many blood types as there are combinations of surface antigens on the ruddy blood cellphone .
As of 2024 , theInternational Society of line of descent Transfusionrecognizes 47 blood line group scheme . Each of these profligate group systems can encompass multiple lineage character , just as the ABO system includes A , B , AB and O.
Coberly said some examples of these rarer blood type include the McLeod phenotype , in which a person ’s red blood cells do n’t express a protein called Kx ; the Kidd - aught phenotype , in which cellular phone do n’t verbalise a group of proteins known as the Kidd group ; and the Bombay phenotype , in which cells do n’t express a protein call the hydrogen antigen .
Like the ABO group and Rh element , these rarefied blood type are genetic . They may also be link up with various health conditions and symptoms ; for example , the McLeod phenotype is consort with the neurological disorderMcLeod syndrome .. And because of the genetic element , they may be tie to certain racial or ethnical backgrounds .
For example , sickle cell disease ( SCD ) , a precondition that causes ruddy blood cell to form in a crescent - Sun Myung Moon contour , primarily affect people of African or Latino descent . masses affect by SCD often need repeated origin transfusions , which can go the resistant systems to become hypersensitive to the giver blood . This have abouthalf of those address for the disease to develop antibodiesagainst the 10000 antigens present on the giver blood cells . That happens even when the donate blood is matched to the patient ' ABO type and Rh ingredient .
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After developing antibody , these patients ask meticulously meet blood that accounts for these additional resistant proteins . Otherwise , their immune scheme mayattack and ruin the donor line , which can quickly conduce to life history - peril complications .
These complexness in blood types are one reason why blood bank always need novel bestower , Coberly emphasized .
" This is why it is so significant that we maintain a diverse pedigree supplying from rake donors of all background , " she order . " Blood will be available for all affected role when they call for it , including those that need blood that is more tight matched to them . "
Some scientist are trying to bypass this offspring entirely by creating universal conferrer blood — whether it ’s bygrowing red blood cells from scratchorremoving antigens from existing donated profligate .
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