Failure – a door of opportunities!

An Austrian did what others in life would not do. Whenever we observe a failure, generally we don’t go deep down to look into the failure for the reason. Failure, in fact teaches a lot and gives an insight to great success. Few great personalities in the earth do that! They spend lot of time and research to find the real reason for the failure to gain out of it. This blog describes about that one such personality, who has immensely contributed a lot to the world. His contribution was a wonderful example of how he went deep which remained a failed subject for many centuries and came out with a discovery which could save millions of life in this planet. One should learn from his life, failure- is actually a door that opens for great opportunities. It can be simulated in real life too since success is always hidden inside failures. Greater the failures, the greater the success would be!

This Austrian was born in Vienna on June 14, 1868. His father, was a well-known journalist and newspaper publisher, who died when he was six years old. Later he was brought up by his mother, to whom he was so devoted that a mask that she wore in her death bed hung on his wall until he died. After leaving school, he studied medicine at the University of Vienna, graduating in 1891.

19 centuries before, there were very few isolated cases of blood transfusion and in most of the cases it got utterly failed that no one was willing to dive into that subject since it was known that blood transfusions always fail and all the patients died. In the year 1901, this physician took samples of blood from six healthy scientists and decided to see what would happen if they were mixed together in a test tube. While some of the samples didn’t react, he noticed that others would form clumps and agglutinate. More importantly, he noted that if he took blood samples and removed the red blood cells, it was the plasma that contributed to this observation. Plasma is the clear, yellowish, fluid part of the blood that carries the blood cells.

He then classified the bloods of human beings into the now well-known A, B, AB, and O groups and showed that transfusions between similar blood group do not result in the destruction of new blood cells and that this phenomenon occurs only when a person is transfused with the blood of a person belonging to a different group. He observed a pattern of antigen reactions that occurred when he combined blood serum from different individuals. He observed that antigens present on the outside of blood cells differed between individuals. If blood from the A or the B group was introduced into a host of the opposing group, the host body would trigger an immunological reaction. He found that this reaction caused the invading antigen carrying blood cell to burst. Large accumulations of burst cells created clumps that could clog small blood vessels [Capillaries] and perhaps cause shock or death.

He was the Austrian physician Karl Landsteiner and was awarded the Nobel Prize for his discovery and contribution. It was an excellent example of FMEA [Failure mode and effect analysis].

Blood grouping

There are 4 main types of blood – A, B, AB and O. Blood group is determined by the genes inherited from parents. Blood is made up of red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets in a liquid called plasma. Blood group is identified by antibodies and antigens present in the blood.

• Blood group A – Has A antigens on the red blood cells with anti-B antibodies in the plasma.
• Blood group B – Has B antigens with anti-A antibodies in the plasma.
• Blood group O – Has no antigens, but both anti-A and anti-B antibodies in the plasma.
• Blood group AB – Has both A and B antigens, but no antibodies.

O for the German “Ohne”, meaning “without” or “Zero” in English. O is named since it has no antigens.

Antibodies and antigens

Antibodies are proteins found in plasma. They are part of our body’s natural defenses. They recognize foreign substances, such as germs, and alert our immune system, which destroys them.

Antigens are any foreign substance and are protein molecules found on the surface of red blood cells. This makes every human being unique.

Blood types by Rh factor

Rh-positive: People with Rh-positive blood have Rh antigens on the surface of their red blood cells. People with Rh-positive blood can receive Rh-positive or Rh-negative blood.

Rh-negative: People with Rh-negative blood don’t have Rh antigens. People with Rh-negative blood can receive only blood that is also Rh-negative.

Rh + and Rh – is 85:15 ratio in the world population.

The name Rh indicates that this characteristic of the human blood originates from the findings of animal experiments with monkeys. Rhesus factor derives from the rhesus monkey [Macaca mulatta].

Blood donations

O: Can donate blood to anyone, because their blood has no antigens. However, they can only receive blood from other type O individuals [because blood with any antigens is seen as foreign].

A: Can donate to other type A individuals and type AB individuals. Type A individuals can receive blood only from other type A individuals and type O individuals.

B: Can donate blood to other B individuals and AB individuals. Type B individuals can receive blood only from type B individuals and type O individuals.

AB: Can give blood only to other AB individuals, but can receive blood of any type.

Chart describing the blood group inheritance from the genes of our parents

Blood group test identification in laboratories

Based on the discovery of blood group, the blood group test identification is followed. To the drop of blood in the slide, both the antisera A and B are added and based on the agglutination, the blood group can be found out. Blood typing is done prior to a blood transfusion Blood typing is a fast and easy way to ensure that you receive the right kind of blood during surgery or after an injury. If incompatible blood is administered, it can lead to blood clumping, or agglutination, which can be fatal. Blood typing is especially important for pregnant women when the mother is Rh-negative and the father is Rh-positive.

William Harvey discovered the circulation of blood, Landsteiner went further deeper to find out the blood grouping and may be someone in future will still go deeper and unravel the next hidden layer in blood system!

Note-The images given for representation in this blog are taken from Google Images. Many thanks for Google.