EUREKA!

New Ultra-Rare Blood Type is Identified in Just One Woman

This new medical breakthrough could help advance medical research and save future patients.

The International Society of Blood Transfusion has recognized a new blood type. The new addition, now the 48th recognized blood type, was discovered by scientists at the French Blood Establishment from a sample drawn around 15 years ago. So far, only one woman, from whom the sample originated, has been known to have it. Scientists have named the blood group “Gwada negative” after the unnamed patient’s homeland, the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, also known as “Gwada.” Scientists have determined that this previously undocumented blood type originated from a rare genetic mutation. Hers is “undoubtedly the only known case in the world,” Thierry Peyrard, a medical biologist at the French Blood Establishment, told the press. “She is the only person in the world who is compatible with herself.” While the average layperson is likely only familiar with the four main blood types—A, B, AB, O, and their positive and negative classifications—there are hundreds of different known antigens that create an even wider variety of blood types. Identification of rare blood types, such as the new “Gwana negative” category, could advance medical research and save future patients from potentially life-threatening immune responses in the event of a blood transfusion.