The ABO blood group system is used worldwide to match blood samples between donors and recipients to ensure safe transfusions. It was developed by Karl Landsteiner in 1909 and is determined by genetic inheritance. The system is complicated by the presence or absence of rhesus factor, but the ABO group catches the majority of cases where a harmful transfusion reaction would occur. Other blood types are considered in addition to the patient’s ABO group.
The ABO blood group is an important blood classification system used throughout the world. It is the foundation of matching blood samples between donors and recipients to find blood that is safe to transfuse. Before the development of understanding of blood types, blood transfusions were extremely dangerous and often failed because the wrong type of blood was being transfused.
The development of the ABO blood group is attributed to the doctor Karl Landsteiner. He noted that some people’s blood seemed to cause clots when mixed with other people’s blood and theorized that instead of being universal, human blood was actually different between individuals. He published a study in 1909 outlining the ABO blood typing system and later won a Nobel Prize for his groundbreaking work, as he was a very significant contribution to medicine.
Membership in the ABO blood group is determined through genetic inheritance. Some people inherit a pair of genes known as the A genes which code for the presence of A antigens on the surface of blood cells. These individuals are said to have type A blood. Other people inherit the B genes that code for the B antigen and are in blood type B. It is also possible to inherit one copy of each antigen from one’s parents, resulting in AB blood.
Some individuals inherit neither the A genes nor the B genes. These individuals are said to have type O blood. Blood infused between different members of the ABO blood type can react, causing a transfusion reaction and serious illness or death. When blood is first tested for the presence of antigens, it can be withheld from recipients who would react with it and transfused into people who match that blood type.
This blood pooling system is complicated by the presence or absence of rhesus factor, another important component of blood. The presence of rhesus factor is indicated by stating whether someone has “negative” or “positive” blood and affects the safety of blood transfusions. Rather than dividing people into A, B, AB, or O, doctors determine whether they are A-, A+, B-, B+, AB-, AB+, O-, or O+.
There are other blood group systems in addition to the ABO blood group, but this group is the most widely used and catches the majority of cases where a harmful transfusion reaction would occur. Other blood types are based on different antigens and antibodies found in the blood of certain individuals and are considered in addition to, not a replacement for, the patient’s ABO group.
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