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Blood Relation

Leave it to the French to come up with new ways to confound scientists. From Smithsonian:

    Doctors Detected a Mysterious Antibody in a French Woman’s Body. It Turned Out to Be a Brand New Blood Type  
Called “Gwada negative,” it marks the discovery of the 48th known blood group system in humans

Of course it's a new blood type. It's only an antibody if it's from the Antibody region of France.

In 2011, a French woman was undergoing routine medical testing before surgery when doctors discovered a mysterious antibody in her blood.

Personally, I think we should tell kids that antibodies are little ants crawling around under their skin.

Yes, it's wrong, but so is teaching them that only the ABO blood classification system matters. And my suggestion would be funnier.

Now, scientists say the woman is the only known carrier of a new blood type called “Gwada negative.” It’s the only blood type within a new blood group system that scientists have dubbed “PigZ,” which is now the 48th known blood group system in humans, as the French Blood Establishment (EFS) announced last week.

I was going to make a comment about the inappropriateness of "PigZ," but then I saw the part about there being a French Blood Establishment, and that's way more amusing. Sounds more like a secret society of French vampires.

Humans have four major blood groups—the same ones identified at the beginning of the 20th century: A, B, O and AB. Since then, scientists have also determined that blood cells are influenced by a protein called the Rhesus factor.

Apparently, that has nothing to do with Reese's Cups, but a lot to do with rhesus monkeys, which are properly named rhesus macaques, which is yet another source of amusement.

But the full range of human blood is more complex. Scientists now know blood types result from the presence or absence of at least 366 antigens, according to the International Society of Blood Transfusion. Slight variations in which of these antigens are present can lead to rare blood types. The ABO blood group system is only one of many—with the new French research bringing that total to 48.

To be serious for a moment, I didn't know any of that, so hey, I learned something. But more importantly, I had a chuckle.