Rh Blood Group System
The Rh (Rhesus) blood group system (including the Rh factor) is one of thirty current human blood group systems. Clinically, it is the most important blood group system after ABO. At present, the Rh blood group system consists of 50 defined blood-group antigens, among which the five antigens D, C, c, E, and e are the most important. The commonly used terms Rh factor, Rh positive and Rh negative refer to the D antigen only. Besides its role in blood transfusion, the Rh blood group system—specifically, the D antigen—is used to determine the risk of hemolytic disease of the newborn (or erythroblastosis fetalis) as prevention is key.
Read more about Rh Blood Group System: Rh Factor, History of Discoveries, Rh Nomenclature, Rh System Antigens, Hemolytic Disease of The Newborn, Population Data, Inheritance, Function, Origin of RHD Polymorphism, Weak D, Partial D, Rh Null Phenotype, Other Rh Group Antigens, Rh Antibodies
Famous quotes containing the words blood, group and/or system:
“Reagan was a flesh and blood version of any other mute national emblem, say the Statue of Liberty. Everyone knows what she represents, but no one would dream of asking her opinion.”
—Simon Hoggart (b. 1946)
“We begin with friendships, and all our youth is a reconnoitering and recruiting of the holy fraternity they shall combine for the salvation of men. But so the remoter stars seem a nebula of united light, yet there is no group which a telescope will not resolve; and the dearest friends are separated by impassable gulfs.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Human beings are compelled to live within a lie, but they can be compelled to do so only because they are in fact capable of living in this way. Therefore not only does the system alienate humanity, but at the same time alienated humanity supports this system as its own involuntary masterplan, as a degenerate image of its own degeneration, as a record of people’s own failure as individuals.”
—Václav Havel (b. 1936)