Question about RH factor in blood and RH neg blood

[Emily2025]

I have some questions regarding the RH factor in blood. There are many far-out ideas concerning RH negative blood over the internet if you do a search via google, however most of it appears to be theoretical, not scientific. A few things appear to be established as true. Firstly, researchers do not know the exact origin of RH negative blood in humans, but one possibility is a genetic mutation that may have occurred a long time ago (triggered by maybe a disease that was going around, therefore acting as a defense against this disease?).

 

I have a question that I have not been able to find the answers to on the internet, and I was hoping that someone knowledgeable on genetics could assist me with the answers.

 

I was wondering if RH negative blood can be found in any species other than humans.

(All I have been able to find out regarding this is that the RH factor is based on a group of blood cells only specific to humans...Yet it was first discovered on the Rhesus monkey...So I would be very interested to know if animals have anything similar to what is known as RH negative blood type in humans?).

 

(Maybe I need to ask someone who is an expert in veterinary science this question?).

Edited December 15, 2010 by Emily2025

[Emily2025]

Found some more info.

Hemolytic disease is a well-known condition in newborn foals, especially in Thoroughbreds and mules. Mares or jennies which have been sensitized by a previous pregnancy develop antibodies by fetal blood cells crossing the placental barrier. The iso-antibodies do not transcend the fetal barrier, but are present in colostrum. They will enter the bloodstream of the foal only after absorption of colostrum immunoglobulins, in the first days of life. Hence, hemolytic disaese will develop only after birth : first to 4th day in foal [2] and 3 to 7 days in newborn mules. Affected animals show lethargy, recumbency, tachycardia, and progressive icterus of eye and mouth mucosae, which rapidly leads to death.

 

The condition is also described in newborn pigs and other animals

http://en.wikipedia...._of_the_newborn

 

 

Another very interesting link:

 

http://www.tetonnm.c...893441-36-9.pdf

^This tells us that the same problem (hemolytic disease of newborn) is caused by the same underlying reasons in dogs, cats, pigs and horses.

 

 

The origin of rhesus negative blood?

 

"Neanderthals might have made good blood donors"

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16386-neanderthals-might-have-made-good-b lood-donors.html

At least two of the extinct, ancient humans had type O blood, making them the "universal donor", according to a new genetic analysis of remains of 45,000 year old individuals.

 

"If you needed a blood transfusion, you could get it from these Neanderthals," says Carles Lalueza-Fox, a geneticist at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, Spain, who led the study.

 

That's not to say all Neanderthals were type O – others may have also boasted genes for the A and B blood types, which encode enzymes that sprinkle red blood cells with two different sugar molecules, Lalueza-Fox says.

 

Type O blood is the result of a mutant form of the same enzymes. Humans – and Neanderthals – with two O genes have type O blood.

Environmental selection

 

Previous research indicated that this mutation occurred about a million years ago, probably in the hominid common ancestor of humans and Neanderthals. Natural selection may sometimes favour a specific blood type. Type O seems to protect against malaria, for example, but makes people more susceptible to bacteria that cause cholera and stomach ulcers.

 

Lalueza-Fox's team analysed DNA extracted from bone from two Neanderthal skeletons recovered from a cave in north-west Spain called El Sidron that has yielded hundreds of fossil fragments.

 

To guard against DNA contamination from human handlers, the researchers worked in protective suits and performed their work in two separate laboratories.

 

The experiments confirmed that the two Neanderthals had at least one copy of the inactive enzyme and probably two. However, Lalueza-Fox says there is a small possibility that the Neanderthals had one copy of the A or B gene, as well.

Shared lifestyle?

 

Discovering two Neanderthals with type O blood could suggest that this type was most prevalent, says John Hawks, a biological anthropologist at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

 

"It is interesting that Neanderthals have a high O frequency, because the other group with a high O frequency today is native Americans," Hawks says. "They're not closely related, but they may have experienced similar environments to the extent that they might have been isolated from diseases that came from Africa and South Asia."

 

Determining whether type O blood coursed through the veins of other Neanderthals should sink or support this hypothesis. Researchers in Germany are currently decoding the complete genome of a Neanderthal discovered in Croatia, with a rough draft expected soon.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

How the Neanderthals Became the Basques

http://www.aoi.com.a...anderbasque.htm

European Neanderthals had ginger hair and freckles [ and Type O blood ]

http://www.freerepub...t/2156528/posts

Edited December 16, 2010 by Emily2025

[ewmon]

I was wondering if RH negative blood can be found in any species other than humans.

Other animals (simians, dogs, etc) have blood factors similar to the human Rh blood factor, so some of the individuals of these species would be Rh negative. Also, other animals do not have an Rh factor in their blood, so the entire species would be Rh negative.

 

I was wondering the importance of this information?

[Emily2025]

Other animals (simians, dogs, etc) have blood factors similar to the human Rh blood factor, so some of the individuals of these species would be Rh negative. Also, other animals do not have an Rh factor in their blood, so the entire species would be Rh negative.

 

I was wondering the importance of this information?

 

Separating facts from myths and trying to determine more about the origin of rhesus negative blood in humans.