The discovery of a new blood group, MAL, has solved a 50- year-old mystery, allowing identification and treatment of rare patients lacking this blood group
The discovery of a new blood group, MAL, has solved a 50- year-old mystery, allowing identification and treatment of rare patients lacking this blood group
>Some people can lack this blood group due to the effect of illness, but the rare inherited form of the AnWj-negative phenotype has only been found in a handful of individuals – though due to this discovery it will now be easier to find others in the future.
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>The two best known blood group systems are ABO and Rh but blood is more complex and matching across the other groups can be lifesaving.
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>If people who are AnWj-negative receive AnWj-positive blood they could have a transfusion reaction, and this research allows development of new genotyping tests for detecting such rare individuals and reducing the risk of transfusion-associated complications.
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>Some people can lack this blood group due to the effect of illness, but the rare inherited form of the AnWj-negative phenotype has only been found in a handful of individuals – though due to this discovery it will now be easier to find others in the future.
>
>The two best known blood group systems are ABO and Rh but blood is more complex and matching across the other groups can be lifesaving.
>
>If people who are AnWj-negative receive AnWj-positive blood they could have a transfusion reaction, and this research allows development of new genotyping tests for detecting such rare individuals and reducing the risk of transfusion-associated complications.
Paper: [Deletions in the MAL gene result in loss of Mal protein, defining the rare inherited AnWj-negative blood group phenotype | Blood | American Society of Hematology](https://ashpublications.org/blood/article-abstract/doi/10.1182/blood.2024025099/517404/Deletions-in-the-MAL-gene-result-in-loss-of-Mal?redirectedFrom=fulltext)