ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my sincere thanks to our Founder and

Chairman, Shri N Devarajan, for his Endeavor in educating us
in his premier institution.

I would like to express my deep gratitude to our

correspondant, Shri Balaji Dagupati, for his kind words and
enthusiastic motivation which inspired us a lot in completing
this project.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to our Director,

Shri Suman Babu Yartagadda, for providing us with the
necessary facilities for completion of this project report.

I would like express my thanks and gratitude to our Principal,

Mrs. Chitrakala Ramachandran, her encouragement and her
sincere guidance.

I am obliged to thank our senior Vice Principal, Mrs. Suchitra

Santhosh for providing us with ample time and encouragement
for successful completion of the project.

I cover my thanks to our project guide, Mrs.Serena Karodt in

department of Biology, for her valuable support and
encouragement.

BLOOD AND ITS BLOOD GROUPS:

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What is Blood?

The blood is a fluid tissue present in the body that carries out
various complex functions for the human body. It contains
solid and liquid particles. Blood and its components are
produced in the Bone Marrow.

Components of the Blood:

As mentioned, Blood is made up of solid and liquid particles.

•PLASMA:

Plasma is the straw-coloured liquid portion of the blood. It is

the largest component of the blood as it comprises about 55%
of the blood and contains water, salts, enzymes, antibodies
and other proteins.

-Plasma carried out its functions like clotting blood,

fighting diseases and other critical functions

-Plasma is composed of 90% water and acts as a

transporting medium for cells and other vital substance to
various parts of the body

-Plasmapheresis is the process of removing an infected

portion of the plasma and replacing it with a saline solution
or albumin or treating the plasma and injecting it back in.

•WHITE BLOOD CELLS (WBC’s):

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The soldiers of the blood fluid system that help fight
infection and defend the body against other foreign materials.
There are many types of White Blood Cells (also known as
Leucocytes).

 -Neutrophils: Roughly 50% of the WBC count are

Neutrophils. They respond to Bacteria/Virus’ that
attack the body by alerting the other cells of its
presence. Once released, they live only for a few hours
until they die a few hours later.
 -Eosinophils: Eosinophils help fighting bacteria that
affects the body after a parasitic bite. It is also known
to have confusions against certain compounds, mistaking
them for an invader. For example, they overboard in
mounting an immune response against substances like
pollen. In the blood, it takes up a small concentration of
less than 5% but it is present as a large amount in the
digestive tract.
 -Basophils: In the presence of an Allergen; a
substance that causes allergies, Basophils release
Histamine that helps to suspend the allergy.
 -Lymphocytes: Lymphocytes are of two types: B-
Lymphocytes and T-Lymphocytes (B-cells and T-cells).
B-cells are responsible for “humoral immunity”; they
produce antibodies that remember an infection and
prepare when the body is exposed to that particular Formatted: English (India)
 antigen. The T-cells, on the other hand, are responsible
for directly attacking the foreign invaders.
Lymphocytes help in the efficiency and working of
vaccines.
 -Monocytes: The garbage truck of the blood that is
around 5-12% of WBC’s in the bloodstream. Their main
goal is to migrate to various organs and tissues and
clean up any dead cells

•PLATELETS: Platelets are what helps an individual stop

bleeding by clotting the blood. When one of the blood vessels
get damaged, platelets are signaled out to the sight of damage
and spread across the surface and stop the bleeding;
Adhesion. Platelets are also called Thrombocytes and are also
produced in the Bone Marrow.

•RED BLOOD CELLS (RBC’s):

The haemoglobin containing cells of the blood that transport

O₂ and CO₂. Haemoglobin gives the blood its red colour and is
the reason these cells are called Red Blood Cells or
Erythrocytes or rarely, red blood corpuscles. Red blood cells
are round with a flattish, indented centre, like doughnuts
without a hole. They typically live for about 120 days, and
then they die.

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Antibodies are Y-shaped proteins that are produced by the
immune system that helps in attacking invaders. These
invaders are called Antigens. These antigens can be Bacteria,
Virus, or other chemicals.

Blood Types: How are there so many?

Blood is classified by the antigen and the antibody that is

present on the surface of the RBC’s.

The antigens can be type A antigen and type B antigen.

Similarly, it also has specific antibodies; Anti-B and Anti-A
respectively.

An individual containing Type A antigen (and the anti-B

antibody) on the surface is said to have the blood type A.

An individual containing Type B antigen (and the anti-A

antibody) on the surface is said to have the blood type B.

An individual containing neither Type A nor Type B (but have

the anti-A and anti-B antibodies) is said to have the blood
type O.

An individual containing both Type A and Type B (but have no

antibodies) on the surface is said to have the blood type AB.

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The history behind the blood types:

ABO History:

In the year 1900, Karl Landsteiner at the University of Vienna

found out that some blood transfusions can be successful
while some can be deadly. Landsteiner has discovered the ABO
blood group by mixing his RBC’s and Serum along with each of
his staffs. He had seen that for some people, the serum had
agglutinated the red cells of others. From these early
experiments, he came to the conclusion that there are 3 types
and called them A, B and C (now named as O derived from the
German word “Ohne” meaning “without”.) The fourth less
frequent group AB was discovered a year later. Landsteiner
received the Nobel Prize in physiology and medicine for his
work.

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Rh History:
The first Rh type was discovered many years after the ABO
group was discovered. It was discovered in 1937 by Karl
Landsteiner and Alexander Soloman Weiner (A. S. Weiner)
who named it after a similar factor found in the Rhesus
Monkey’s blood. The significance of the discovery was not
immediately apparent and was only realized in 1940, after
subsequent findings by Philip Levine and Rufus Stetson. It was
first found out in a mother who required blood transfusion
following the birth of a stillborn baby. They came to the
conclusion that a special factor is present in the father; the
donor of blood to the mother, that the mother lacks.

On the other side, Additional studies by Levine and coworkers

provided further evidence that the antibody that caused the
1939 hemolytic transfusion reaction and the antibody
identified by Landsteiner and Wiener seemed to be the same.
Therefore, the antibody was called anti-Rh.

The Rhesus Monkey is also known as

Rhesus Macaque that has a life span of
about 25 years

Scientific name: Macaca mulatta

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THE DIFFERENT BLOOD TYPES:

 A Positive (A+):
On the surface of the RBC’s of an individual containing
this blood type are the A-Antigen and the Rh+ factor.
This gives them the blood type A+. Genotypically, they
can be either IᴬIᴬ or Iᴬi.

Can Give Blood To Can Receive Blood From

A+, AB+ A+, A-, O+, O-

 B Positive (B+):
On the surface of the RBC’s of an individual containing
this blood type are the B-Antigen and the Rh+ factor.
This gives them the blood type B+. Genotypically, they
can be either IᴮIᴮ or Iᴮi.

Can Give Blood To Can Receive Blood From

B+, AB+ B+, B-, O+, O-

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 O Positive (O+):
This individual doesn’t contain any antigens on the
surface of the RBC’s but contains both Anti-A and Anti-B
antibodies. They are represented as ii as it is the
recessive blood genotype.

Can Give Blood To Can Receive Blood From

O+, A+, B+, AB+ O+, O-

 AB Positive (AB+):
AB+ is having both the antigens but lack the antibodies
and contain the Rh factor. AB+ is the rarest Rh+ blood.
 Universal Recipient: AB+ acts as a plasma donor that
can be transfused to any other blood type making
them very useful. AB- on the other cannot be given
to positive blood types and acts as a plasma donor
among the Rh- blood types.

Can Give Blood To Can Receive Blood From

AB+ A+, A-, B+, B-, O+, O-, AB+, AB-

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 A Negative (A-):
The Rh-negative blood types are rare. Similar to A+,
They contain the A-antigen on its surface but they do not
present the Rh factor. Being apart of the Rh-Negative
family, it is rare than its counterpart.

Can Give Blood To Can Receive Blood From

A+, A-, AB+, AB- A-, O-
 B Negative (B-): Similar to B+, it contains the B Antigen
on its surface but lacks the Rh Factor. Again, similarly to
A-, it is rarer than it’s counterpart B+, which is the most
common blood type in India.

Can Give Blood To Can Receive Blood From

B+, B-, AB+, AB- B-, O-

 O Negative (O-):
Just like O+, it does not contain any antigens but contains
both antibodies. It also does not contain the Rh Factor
just like all the other Negative blood types discussed.
 Universal Donor: O- is considered to be the
Universal Donor because this blood type can give its
blood; in terms of RB, to all the blood types.

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 O+ cannot do the same because it contains the Rh
Factor.

Can Give Blood To Can Receive Blood

From
A+, A-, B+, B-, AB+, AB-, O+, O- O-

 AB Negative (AB-):
AB Negative contains both A and B Antigens but no
antibodies just like its counterpart, AB+. But unlike its
counterpart, it does not present the Rh factor. AB
Negative is the rarest blood type (in the ABO blood
group systems) with only 0.6% of the world having this
blood.

Can Give Blood To Can Receive Blood From

AB-, AB+ A-, B-, O-, AB-

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 A blood bag
that is used
in blood
banks for
blood
transfusion

Blood type statistics: USA and India, A comparison

The United States of America has a population of
326,481,533 people making it the 3rd most populated
country in the world right behind India who has a
population of 1,342,561,902 people making that the 2nd
most populated country with China being the most
populated country.
The major difference between the statistics of the USA
and India is that the most common blood type in the USA
is O+ meanwhile, in India it is B+.
The rarest blood type is common for both, that being
AB-.

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Country O+ A+ B+ AB+ O- A- B- AB-
USA 37.4% 35.7% 8.5% 3.4% 6.6% 6.3% 1.5% 0.6
%
India 27.8% 20.8% 38.1% 8.9% 1.4% 0.5% 1.8% 0.3
%
Another difference is that B+ seems to be quite rare in
the USA while in India, O+ is the 2nd most common blood
type.

Blood Incompatibility: Mother and Child

Blood incompatibility occurs when conflicts happen between

the mother’s blood and the baby’s blood. The mother’s blood,
in some cases, comes in contact with the unborn baby, and if
the mother’s blood and the baby’s blood are not compatible,
the mother’s blood cells develop antibodies against the baby’s
blood cells and can cause Jaundice at the time of the baby’s
birth.
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ABO incompatibility occurs when:

 The mother is type O and the baby is type A, B, or AB

 The mother is type A and the baby is type B or AB
 The mother is type B and the baby is type A or AB

Rh incompatibility occurs when the mother is Rh- and the baby

is Rh+. The mother’s blood, not having the Rh factor does not
recognize the baby’s Rh factor and the mother’s body will
produce an auto-immune response that will attack the
newborn’s blood as if it were a bacterial/viral invader which
will, again, result in the baby having Jaundice at the time of
birth.

Blood incompatibility is preventable. It can be prevented by

having an early blood test during pregnancy.

If an Rh Incompatibility is found, an Rh-immuno globulin is

administered about 28 weeks into the pregnancy. If not given,
jaundice can cause severe brain damage to the baby. But
jaundice also can be treated since Jaundice in newborns is
very common. It can be treated by hydration and
phototherapy. The earliest signs of Jaundice in the newborn is
the yellow discolouration in the skin or the eyes.

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What happens when different blood types are mixed?

As we know, the body contains different antigens depending

on what blood type we are. If you are blood type A, then you
contain the A antigen.

Suppose in the case of blood transfusion, although very rare,

the blood might get mixed. Usually, the doctor confirms your
blood type and the donor’s blood type in order to prevent this
from happening. But let us go through what happens when such
a condition happens:

What causes this incompatibility?

Usually human error; it can be caused by taking the wrong

blood bag, wrong labeling or failure to check the donated
blood during a transfusion.

What are its symptoms?

During this incompatibility, you will notice these symptoms in a

few minutes during the transfusion. Some of the symptoms
are:

 Fever
 Chills
 Breathing difficulties
 Muscle aches
 Nausea
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  Chest pains or Abdominal pains
 Back pains
 Blood in the urine
 Jaundice

How is the incompatibility diagnosed?

As mentioned, these symptoms mentioned will be showing a

few minutes during the transfusion. If the medical staff sees
that you are showing these symptoms, they will immediately
stop the blood transfusion process. They will inform the staff
that the wrong blood has been given.

The doctors will take samples to confirm this and also might
take a sample of your urine to look for haemoglobin.

While these procedures are going on, the doctors and nurses
will monitor your vital signs like:

 Blood pressure
 Heart rate
 Breathing
 Temperature

What are the treatments that are given during this case:

The goal of the treatment is to prevent you from getting

kidney failures, blood clotting and abnormally low blood
pressures. You may receive oxygen and other intravenous
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 fluids. You will also get a drug to increase the urine output.
In the case of widespread clotting of the blood, you may
receive a transfusion of plasma or platelets.

How can one prevent this?

Obviously, there isn’t much the patient can do about this. It

is up to the responsibility of the doctors and the medical
staff to ensure that such problems do not occur. This can
be ensured by them in the following ways:

 checking the identities of donors to ensure that their

details match the information on their blood samples
 correctly labelling stored samples
 double-checking the blood type of both patients and
blood packs before each transfusion

By making sure all these are perfect, there will be almost no

chances of the patient going through an incompatibility and
the patient will be alive and healthy again.

Blood groups other than the ABO group:

Other than the ABO and Rh grouping systems, there are many
other grouping systems existing.

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Currently, there are 34 other blood type systems with over
300 variants. We will be going through some of the more
known groups

 The Bombay Blood:

Everyone has something that is called an ‘H antigen’ which
is converted to a glycoprotein depending upon an enzyme
the person carries.
 A person carrying blood type A has an enzyme which
adds N-acetylgalactosamine to the H antigen.
 A person carrying blood type B has an enzyme which
adds Galactose to the H antigen.
 A person carrying blood AB has both the enzymes
 A person carrying blood type O has none of these
enzymes and the H antigen just remains as it is.

A person having Bombay blood completely lacks this

antigen and so they are unable to produce A nor B
antigens.

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 This would make them the true universal donors because
they can give blood to literally anyone, unlike O-, how
cannot give blood to a patient having Bombay blood. But in
case a patient with Bombay blood requires a transfusion,
it will be nearly impossible to provide him with a suitable
donor because of how rare this blood type is.

 The MNS grouping:

The MNS group was discovered by Karl Landsteiner in
the 1920s. This is a complex blood group system found
on some of the most important structural proteins on the
surface of red cells. It’s common to find antibodies to
the M blood group in the plasma of patients, as these are
sometimes formed after infection, and testing is
required to ensure the patient’s anti-M antibodies do not
destroy donated red blood cells.

 The SARA antigen:

In the 1990s, researchers at the Australian Red Cross

Blood Service discovered something interesting about
the blood cells of donor Sarah Culhane—they had an
antigen on them that had never been seen before.
Researchers named the antigen ‘SARA’. Some of Sarah’s
unusual blood was frozen and stored.

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Twenty years later, Canadian Blood Services sent the
Australian organisation blood from the family of a
Canadian baby who had required a massive blood
transfusion at birth. They suspected it might be related
to the rare SARA antigen. Testing showed that the
mother’s blood was SARA negative—with anti-SARA
antibodies. They had attacked the baby’s cells, which
were SARA positive.

The SARA antigen has now been officially recognized by

the International Society for Blood Transfusion. A very
rare antigen, only two families in the world are known to
have it. Because the same thing that happens in
pregnancy or transfusion with incompatible Rh types can
occur with SARA, correct typing and matching are very
important.

Currently, our knowledge of blood groups goes beyond the

usual tests of agglutination and transfusion to a better
understanding of RBC antigens. There are many blood
grouping systems that are yet to be discovered in a
different manner. Maybe one day, when we expand our
horizons, they will be found. There are still many blood
group systems that are not mentioned here but they
exist.

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BIOLOGY INVESTIGATORY
PROJECT

NOT ALL BLOOD IS THE

SAME!

Submitted By:

Sara Grace (12 B)

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