Blood Type

• A scab forms from platelets and red blood cells
• Plasma


  The liquid portion of the blood, about 90 percent water, makes up 55 percent of the total blood volume, carries blood cells in suspension, and contains substances like electrolytes, hormones, enzymes, antibodies, glucose, and clotting proteins
• Antibodies attach to antigens on the cell surface of pathogens like bacteria
• To avoid a medical emergency, any blood transfusion between humans must involve the correct donor type to the correct recipient
• ABO blood group system


  Discovered by Karl Land Steiner in 1901, red blood cells contain antigens determined by three alleles A, B, and O where A & B are dominant alleles and O is the recessive allele
• Red blood cells

  Carry oxygen from the lungs to cells in the body and return carbon dioxide to be exhaled
• Cells in our body have molecules on the outside surfaces made of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates with many different functions
• White blood cells


  Manufacture antibodies which mark invading bacteria for death
• Platelets activation


  When you cut yourself and start bleeding, platelets are transported to the area of the cut where they activate and produce a protein called fibrin which mixes with the red blood cells to form a clot that stops the bleeding
• Blood components

  • Plasma
  • Platelets
  • White blood cells
  • Red blood cells
• Antigen


  Any foreign substance that causes the immune system to produce antibodies against it
• Blood types and circulating antibodies

  • Type A have B antibodies, Type B have A antibodies, Type AB have neither A nor B antibodies, Type O have both A and B antibodies
• Putting incompatible blood types together will cause a fatal reaction where the patient's antibodies attack the donor's blood cells
• Genotypes and Phenotypes

  • AA or AO = Type A
  • IA IA/IAi = Type A
  • BB or BO = Type B
  • IBIB/IBi = Type B
  • AB IAIB = Type AB
  • OO ii = Type O
• It is important to ensure that any blood transfusion between humans involves the correct donor type to the correct recipient to avoid medical emergencies and potential death
• Rh Positive is dominant over Rh Negative
• The Rhesus factor is the second set of alleles that make up blood types, named Rh for Rhesus Monkeys used in the discovery of this gene
• Chances of a couple having a child who is AB-, B+, A-, AB-, A+, or O+ based on their blood types and Rh factors
• Blood types or groups

  • Type A
  • Type B
  • Type AB
  • Type O
• Incompatible blood cells infused into a patient


  Donor's blood cells will be attacked by the patient's antibodies
• The Rh factor is an antigen located on the surface of red blood cells with two phenotypes: Rh+ (having the antigen) and Rh- (not having the antigen)
• To solve a genetics problem involving both ABO Blood Group and Rh, set up a Punnett Square for each gene