What is the science behind naming of blood groups? Like what is that blood contains which makes it O-positive or O-negative?
In: 10
I’ll add a little bit too
When they discovered the A and B antigen, they expected to find more related antigens, so started by calling the first 2 A and B with the plan to continue with the alphabet. However they then realised that there were only those two and that they existed in isolation, combined or not at all. A and B had become established as names already and it also worked nicely as a simple ways of describing the combination someone had so they stuck with it.
It was later they started to find other antigens, but they weren’t variants of the A and B so they got called other things like rhesus.
There are more antigens than A, B and rhesus, it’s just that in blood typing for transfusion they usually don’t matter than much. It’s only if there is a suspected problem or requirement that they are checked in clinical practice.
Latest Answers