Less Than 50 People in the World Have ‘Golden Blood’ – What Makes it Special?
Jakarta –
Rare blood types are nothing new in the medical world. However, there is a blood type that only less than 50 people in the world have, namely Rh-null which is nicknamed ‘golden blood’.
Quoted from the New York Post, this blood type is special because it does not have any of the more than 50 antigens in the rhesus (Rh) system. This condition is what makes Rh-null highly sought after for transfusion needs,for patients with rare blood disorders.
According to the american Red Cross, a blood type is considered ‘rare’ if it occurs in less than 1 in 1,000 people.For Rh-null, the figure is estimated to be only 1 in 6 million people.
Why is Rh-null so rare?
blood type is determined by antigens, which are proteins or sugars on the surface of red blood cells. That helps the immune system know which blood is the bodyS own and which is not.
“If someone receives a blood transfusion with a diffrent antigen, the body can form antibodies and attack the blood,” explained Bristol University cell biology professor, Ash Toye.
The main blood group systems that most trigger the immune response are ABO and Rhesus (Rh).The combination of the two produces eight general blood types, namely:
* O+
* O-
* A+
* A-
* B+
* B-
* AB+
* AB-
Rh-null is so rare because it requires inheriting a very specific, and rare, genetic mutation from both parents.
“It’s a recessive genetic trait, meaning both parents must carry the gene for a child to have Rh-null blood,” Toye added.
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