O- “universal donor” blood
In: Biology
Basically there are three major antigens in blood that are really important for transfusions, and we call them A, B, and Rh. For each of these a person either has the antigen or they don’t. If you have A or B our blood notation lists A and/or B, and if you have Rh we list a +. If you don’t have A or B we use O in the notation, and if you don’t have Rh we use a -. So if someone has the A and Rh antigens, but not the B antigen, then their blood type is A+ (technically AO+, but we drop the O for ease of use).
For any of the three antigens if your body doesn’t have it already, then your body will negatively react to transfused blood with that type. If your body does have an antigen it can still accept blood that doesn’t have the antigen. O- blood doesn’t have any of the antigens, which means anyone can use that blood. Likewise AB+ blood has all 3 of the antigens, and can accept anyone else’s blood.
Latest Answers