Chapter 7, Problem 3AWK

Summary Introduction

To review:

The term universal donor, the reason for calling O-negative blood as a universal donor. Also, the reason for considering universal donor as an outdated term.

Introduction:

Based on the protein present in the red blood cell (RBC) surface, the human blood is grouped into four types. These are A, B, AB, and O. Group A blood contains antigen A and antibody B, B blood groups have antigen B and antibody A. AB blood groups carry both antigen A and B and no antibody. The O blood group contains both antibody A and B and no antigen. Along with this, another type of protein is situated on the RBC surface, whose presence or absence determines the positive blood group or negative blood group, respectively.