Most of us know that there are blood groups such as A, B, AB, 0. Well, have you ever wondered where the “Rh” expression behind all these blood groups comes from?
The “Rh” abbreviation comes from the name of the “Rhesus monkey”, which comes from the canine ape family. The origin of the name Rh from monkeys has a logical story.
It all started with the discovery of blood groups.
The medical world, which started blood transfusions, faced a major problem in this miraculous development. Some people who received blood transfusions died of unknown causes. Scientists began to conduct research on the death of blood transfusions.
Research on rhesus monkeys is saving millions of lives today.
Karl Landsteiner and Alexander S. Wiener were among the scientists who carried out these studies. In this research, which was not considered very important at the beginning, the blood of Rhesus monkeys is investigated. As a result of these researches, a new discovery called the Rh factor was made.
As a result of this research, it was understood that there is another important protein for transplantation. The presence or absence of this protein, known as the “D antigen,” was vital for blood transfusions not to result in death. In other words, if you have D antigen in your blood, you have “Rh+” blood group but not “Rh-” blood group.
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