It may come as a shock to those who have blood type AB to learn that there is an even rarer type. So, what exactly are we going to talk about?

Only 43 individuals on Earth have a certain blood type, and only nine of them regularly give blood. Rhnull (or Rhesus null) blood is so rare and valuable that it is commonly referred to as “golden blood.” You need to know a little bit about blood types to understand why this one is so uncommon and costly.

There are four major types of blood. The oldest blood type, type A, predated the development of the human race from its forebears.

How did blood groups change over time?

Type B came about 3.5 million years ago when one of the sugars on the surface of red blood cells got a genetic change. 2.5 million years ago, another change to the gene that controls the type of sugar in blood cells caused blood type O to form. Blood type O is different from blood types A and B because its cells don’t have the sugar that makes blood types A and B.

Over time, a new blood type called AB, which has both sugars, appeared.

Blood types are defined by antigens on the cell membrane, which cause an immune response when they come into contact with something that isn’t compatible with them.

The A and B antigens are used to categorize the four different types of blood cells: blood type A contains antigen A, blood type B has antigen B, and blood type AB carries both. Type O has none. Red blood cells are also put into groups based on whether or not they have a protein called Rhesus. If it’s there, a plus sign will be put next to the blood type. If it’s not, a minus sign will be put there.

What exactly is “golden blood”?

In 1961, an Australian woman was found to have the first documented case of “golden blood.” Numerous such odd cases have been discovered since, and scientists believe that 1 in 6 million people globally have this blood type. It’s unclear for sure, but as was previously said, there have only been 43 confirmed cases.

As was already said, this blood is considered “universal” for people with rare blood types in the Rh system because it doesn’t have any antigens that could cause the immune system to reject it.

This reveals that the possibility of blood transfusions with this type of blood is exceptionally high. It has also been put to use in the medical field, for example, in the creation of immunoglobulin-based medications used to treat and prevent Rhesus disease, a condition where antibodies in the blood of a pregnant woman attack the blood cells of her unborn child.

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