Medicine Atlas

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Blood Groups

Also Known As ABO Blood Group System

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The ABO blood group system, the basic classification of human blood into compatible types, was identified in 1900 and 1901 by the Austrian physician Karl Landsteiner, who found that mixing blood from different individuals could cause red blood cells to clump together and traced the reaction to distinct A, B and O blood types. The discovery explained the often fatal reactions that had plagued earlier transfusion attempts and made safe transfusion possible for the first time by matching donor and recipient blood types.

Facts
Discovery Year
1901 1
Discoverer
Karl Landsteiner, working in Vienna, identified the ABO blood groups in 1900 and 1901 and received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1930 for the discovery; the rarer AB group was identified shortly after by his colleagues Alfred von Decastello and Adriano Sturli. 2
Cross-Tradition Connections

Discovered By

Landsteiner discovered the ABO blood group system (1900-1901) before co-discovering the Rh factor; deepens the atlas's pre-existing Blood Groups entity.

Sources
1. Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
2. The Greatest Benefit to Mankind: A Medical History of Humanity
Roy Porter, W. W. Norton and Company, 1997
Wikipedia: Rh Blood Group System
WikipediaDiscovered By: Karl LandsteinerView the Source
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