Question: What would you say is the most interesting thing about blood and transfusions?

Tim Knapp answered on 1 Oct 2020:

You may think it might be a bit boring but it’s not!
Think about these things that can blow your mind.
There are not just a few blood groups………There are loads…. in fact, new ones are added every year or so. So there are now over 350. That’s just blood groups found on red cells. There other cells in blood like white cells and platelets that can have all sorts of markers on them too.
The ones on white blood cells are the ones we have to match if someone needs an organ, like a heart or kidney or Liver etc.
They also have to be matched if someone needs a bone marrow graft. (Stem cells)

Then there’s the patients that have antibodies to some blood groups so it becomes very complicated when they need blood.

Then there’s all the diseases we screen for on donated blood.

And there’s all the machines to process blood to separate out the different parts like plasma red cells and platelets!

It is a very interesting subject really.

Great question Kitty.