The magic of the world’s rarest blood type
Jasmin Fox-Skelly
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Only one in every six million people have the Rh null blood type. Now researchers are trying to grow it in the laboratory in the hope it could save lives.
Blood transfusions have transformed modern medicine. If we are ever unlucky enough to be injured or need serious surgery, blood that has been donated by others can be life-saving.
But not everyone is able to benefit from this remarkable procedure. People with rare blood types struggle to find donated blood that will match their own.
One of the rarest – the Rh null blood type – is found in just 50 known people in the world. Should they ever be in an accident that needs a transfusion, their chances of getting one are slim. Those with Rh null are instead encouraged to freeze their own blood for long-term storage.
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Thanks to the USAF, “APOS” might as well be tattooed on my fore head. Laugh!
Seriously, due to my now sainted wife’s terminal illness, I have donated a lot of blood and platelets.
In ingineering skrule, Brother Austin Barry would always give us time off from lab work to donate blood. His rationale was that we were too dumb to do anything useful in the lab and he would not have to worry that we were killing our selves of others in the lab. (He accidentally electrocuted himself in the lab one year, but it didn’t shock him back to sanity.)
The tin foil hat brigade has (imho rightly) pointed out that the RNA covid “vaccine” (that revised the definition of vaccine) has many side effects. They urge the unvaxed to store their own blood and the rest of us should insist on unvaxed blood for transfusions. (IMHO if I need a transfusion, I think the RNA fragments are the least of my worries!)
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First, there are currently 47 known blood groups and 366 different antigens, as of October 2024. That means that a person receiving an O negative donation could still have an immune reaction to any of the other antigens present – although some antigens provoke more of an immune response than others.
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Learning that there are so many blood groups and antigens has alerted me to inquire what my loved one’s blood characteristics are. The article warns that you may not find out that you are one of the “unlucky winners” of an “immune response”. It would seem that everyone should get this information!
This story has a very happy ending. It appears that several groups of companies and scientists are hot on the quest for a universal donor “golden” Rh null blood type artificial blood. That would obviate the need for blood which always seems to be in short or near short supply.
Until that day comes, I urge everyone to donate. I’m too old now and they don’t want “old” blood, but I would if I could. Argh!
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