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Only 45 people have ever become president of the United States, making it one of the world’s most exclusive clubs. But even rarer are the 43 people ever known to have “golden blood,” by far the most uncommon blood type.
There are four main blood groups — A, B, O, and AB — but there are also many other, less common types, with Rh null blood, also known as “golden blood,” being almost unfathomably rare. “Rh” is short for Rhesus factor, a group of more than 50 antigens, the most common of which is RhD. People with RhD in their blood have a positive blood type, and people who don’t have RhD in their blood have a negative blood type. Those without any of the 50+ Rh antigens, meanwhile, have Rh null blood.
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It's a factAB positive blood recognizes all potential antigens as safe, meaning people with that blood type can safely receive blood from any other type.
In addition to being incredibly rare, “golden blood” carries serious risks related to transfusion. People with Rh null blood in need of a blood transfusion could be in danger if they receive any non-Rh null blood type, which contains antigens their body may reject because they aren’t present in Rh null. This includes O negative blood, whose carriers are otherwise considered universal donors. There are 47 known blood groups and 366 different antigens, highlighting just how rare "golden blood” really is.
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The most common blood type is ______.
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The most common blood type is O positive.
Blood types can change.
Though most of us will have the same blood type for our entire lives, there are a number of instances in which blood type can change. The most common is after a bone marrow transplant, as bone marrow produces red blood cells. If a transplant between a donor and recipient with different blood types is successful, the recipient will inherit the donor’s type.
A change can also temporarily happen after a blood transfusion, specifically when a donor receives large amounts of blood of a different type; after a few months, however, the recipient’s marrow will replace the new blood type with the old one.
Michael Nordine is a writer and editor living in Denver. A native Angeleno, he has two cats and wishes he had more.
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