Heredity of the blood groups / by Alexander S. Wiener and Irving B. Wexler.

  • Wiener, Alexander S. (Alexander Solomon), 1907-1976.
Date:
1958
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: Heredity of the blood groups / by Alexander S. Wiener and Irving B. Wexler. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    10 HEREDITY OF THE BLOOD GROUPS case of the four blood groups 0, A, B, and AB, the relationship 0 X AB = A X В does not hold, Avhich proves that factors A and В are not independent but belong to the same blood group system. The thirty-odd known blood factors have been shown to belong to some ten blood group systems, corresponding to the different chemical substances or agglutinogens that go to make up the mosaic of the sur¬ face of the red blood cell, namely, the A-B-0 system, the M-N-S system, the P-p system, the Rh-Hr system, etc. (cf. table 1). A situa¬ tion similar to that occurring in man has been found to exist in regard to the blood groups of cattle, fowl, dogs, mice, rats and other animals. The tests themselves are simple, although considerable experience is required to obtain reliable and reproducible results, since the reac¬ tions are delicate and have numerous pitfalls, so that in unskilled hands they may be misinterpreted. Different methods are used de¬ pending on the reagent, but the general principle is to bring the red blood cells into contact with the appropriate antiserum and allow them to react. If the cells are agglutinated or clumped into large masses, generally visible to the naked eye, this is a positive reaction, whereas if the cells remain evenly suspended as seen under the microscope the reaction is negative (cf. fig. 2). It is necessary to emphasize the difference between a blood factor and an agglutinogen.® The agglutinogen is the substance itself while the blood factors are the serological properties by which agglutinogens are recognized. Thus, when a blood is said to have the blood factor A, this by definition means merely that the blood cells are clumped by anti-A serum. It does not necessarily mean that the blood cells have the agglutinogen A of human group A blood. As a matter of fact, there are many agglutinogens other than that of the human blood group A that react with particular anti-A serums, notably an agglutinogen of sheep cells. Similarly, some of the blood factors В which characterize the agglutinogen В of human blood are shared by agglutinogens of the red cells of rabbits and other rodents. The nature of the combination between antibody and agglutinogen can perhaps be best visualized by comparing it to the fitting of a lock by a key.®® The antibody is a modified serum gamma globulin which is indistinguishable by ordinary chemical means from the normal gamma globulin. It is believed that a small portion of the surface of the antibody molecule has been altered so as to make it an electro-