A blood type (also called a blood group) is a classification of blood based on the presence and absence of antibodies and also based on the presence or absence of inherited antigenic substances on the surface of red blood cells (RBCs). These antigens may be proteins, carbohydrates, glycoproteins, or glycolipids, depending on the blood group system. Some of these antigens are also present on the surface of other types of cells of various tissues.
Several of these red blood cell surface antigens can stem from one allele (or an alternative version of a gene) and collectively form a blood group system.
Blood types are inherited and represent contributions from both parents. A total of 35 human blood group systems are now recognized by the International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT).
The two most important ones are ABO and the RhD antigen; they determine someone’s blood type (A, B, AB and O, with +, − or Null denoting RhD status). Blood types help us to fight diseases and tell us
what major disease epidemics a given population suffered in its recent history, (e.g. in the last thousand years). For example, most native Americans belong to group O.
