Question

ABO blood groups were identified by

• A. Lamark
• B. Gregor Mendel
• C. Karl Landsteiner
• D. Robert Koch

Answer 1

Answer:

C. Karl Landsteiner

The ABO blood groups were identified by Austrian physician and immunologist Karl Landsteiner.

• The Discovery: Landsteiner identified the major blood types (A, B, and O) in 1901 by mixing the red blood cells and serum of his laboratory staff. The fourth rarer group, AB, was discovered a year later in 1902 by his colleagues Adriano Sturli and Alfred von Decastello.

• The Mechanism: He realized that blood mixing fails or succeeds based on the presence or absence of specific proteins called antigens on the surface of red blood cells and corresponding antibodies in the blood plasma.

• Recognition: His monumental discovery laid the foundation for safe blood transfusions. For this work, Karl Landsteiner was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1930.