By therandomsci / August 29, 2020
We probably hear about 8 blood type which is A, B, AB or O can be +ve or –ve. But there are potentially millions of blood types.
Your blood type is defined by the antigen present in the blood. Antigens are part of your body’s natural defenses. They recognise the foreign substance, such as germs, and alert your immune system which destroys them. A particular blood type depends on which antigens are or aren’t there. Like, if you have AB blood, that means you have both the A and B antigens in the ABO blood group. You could be just A or just B, or if you’re O, you don’t have either. But these are just 2 there are over 600 antigens identified by the International society of blood transfusion, and it is still growing. Your type for a particular group depends on how your genes translated into the antigens that end up on the outside of your blood cells. There is a 36 blood group system currently recognised.
There is 8 common blood group and that’s because many of these antigens are found in practically everyone, while others are present in only a few individuals. In Rh blood grouping, that gives you +ve and –ve, depend on how much of the antigen you have in your system. One of the rarest blood types doesn’t have an Rh group.
If you do happen to have a rare blood type don’t fret. International Rare Donor Panel works hard to make sure you can get the blood you need, no matter where in the world you are. One person needing a transfusion had a rare blood type delivered from the UK to Cameroon. That’s about four thousand miles away! So even if your blood is one in a million, you can be pretty confident that you’ll be able to find someone whose blood matches yours. And, I guess, you could say that’s one of the parts of being human — having something in common with other people while being unique in your special way.
https://www.redcrossblood.org/donate-blood/blood-types.html
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