صحافة بلادي صحيفة إلكترونية مغاربية متجددة على مدار الساعة تعنى بشؤون المغرب الجزائر ليبيا موريتانيا تونس
In 1972, a blood sample was taken from a pregnant woman, only to discover that she was missing a known surface molecule found on all other red blood cells. After half a century of mystery, this discovery led a team of international researchers to describe a new system of blood groups in humans, as published by the Science Alert website, citing the journal Blood.
Louise Tilly, a hematologist at the British National Health Service, confirmed that this discovery represents a major achievement, and is the culmination of long efforts that continued over 20 years. The new system aims to improve care for patients with rare diseases.
MAL protein is known to play a vital role in cell membrane stability and transport. Previous research has also shown that the AnWj antigen is not present in newborns, but appears shortly after birth.
Interestingly, all AnWj-negative patients in the study shared the same mutation, without other cellular abnormalities or diseases. Researchers have been able to identify genetic markers related to the MAL mutation, allowing patients to be tested to see if their negative blood type is inherited or caused by suppression, which could indicate other health problems.
Rare blood conditions can have devastating effects, so understanding them is an essential step in saving more lives. Although the research was difficult due to the rarity of these cases, the study proved that more than 99.9% of people carry the AnWj antigen, which was missing in the patient’s blood in 1972.
The research team used the natural MAL gene in AnWj-negative blood cells, successfully re-delivering the antigen.
Although the well-known blood group systems such as ABO and Rhesus factor are well known, there are many other systems that rely on proteins and sugars on the surface of blood cells. These antigens play a vital role in distinguishing “self” from non-self, as mismatches during a blood transfusion may cause serious reactions.
It should be noted that most of the major blood groups were identified in the early twentieth century, but the types that were discovered later, such as the Er blood system, affect a limited number of people, and the same is the case for the new type that was discovered.
