MEXICO CITY.- There is a rare type of blood that has always attracted the attention of scientists.
It is known as “golden blood”. It is actually the nickname for Rh-null, the strangest blood type in the world.
As the media reports Mosaic, the type is so rare that only about 43 people have been reported to have it worldwide, and until 1961, when it was first identified in an Australian Aboriginal woman, doctors assumed that embryos with Rh-null blood simply they would die in utero. .
Golden blood is incredibly important to medicine, but it is also very dangerous to live with.
If an Rh-null carrier needs a blood transfusion, it can be difficult to locate a donor and blood is notoriously difficult to transport internationally.
Rh-null carriers are encouraged to donate blood as insurance for themselves, but with so few donors spread across the world and limits on how often they can donate, this can also place an altruistic burden on those few who they agree to donate for others.
Blood groups are inherited and Rh-null is known to be hereditary.
Why do some people have the gold blood type?
The gold blood group appears to be the result of a genetic mutation (spontaneous change in the gene), reveals the portal Medicinenet.
It is commonly seen with mutations in the RHAG gene, which encodes the Rh-associated glycoprotein. This protein is necessary to direct the Rh antigens towards the membrane of the red blood cells.
The RHAG mutation is often associated with a condition called hereditary stomatocytosis. These individuals may have long-term mild hemolytic anemia and increased red blood cell breakdown.
The Rh-null phenotype can also be seen in the case of certain anemias that a person can be born with.
The following conditions can put you at higher risk for having a gold blood group:
- Consanguineous marriage (marriage between cousins, brother-sister or any close or distant relative)
- Autosomal genes (abnormal genes, which have disease traits, passed from parent to child)
- Changes or complete deletion of certain genes, which are RHD and RHCE or RHAG
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