BLOOD TYPING

classification of an individual's blood in terms of specific, distinctive antigenic characteristics that are inherited and are associated with the red blood cells. The ABO and the Rh blood groups (qq.v.) are among those most commonly considered. Identification of these determinants has become indispensable in connection with blood transfusion, because recipient and donor must have the same, or compatible, blood groups. Otherwise, hemolysis or clotting results from interaction of an antigen in the red blood cells of one with an antibody in the serum of the other. In addition, blood typing serves to identify promptly the cause of such disorders as erythroblastosis fetalis (hemolytic disease of the newborn), which results from blood-group incompatibility between mother and fetus. Since blood-group determinants are inherited according to generally known mechanisms of heredity, blood typing sometimes provides a method for resolving cases of disputed fatherhood. It has also been postulated that certain blood-group combinations may have a greater survival value than others; such conditions as repeated infertility, premature births, and stillbirths might be partly the result of some yet-undefined forms of blood-group incompatibility between the mating individuals.