Move over Rhesus Blood Groups

The last week has seen a decisive shift in the weather here in the UK. As the evenings start to lengthen – noticeably – the icy grip of winter has let loose its grip and the first signs of spring are now appearing.

One effect I have noticed is that it has rather confused the heating here at Lorne. One minute the heating is on and then the next minute someone has switched the system over to air conditioning. We are variously warm as toast or putting on jumpers, depending upon which office space you happen to be in. This cannot be said of everyone. Many of our products have to be stored in refrigerated conditions and for some that means diving in an out of our huge walk-in fridges.

Our reagents, whether they are for grouping ABO or Rhesus blood groups have to be kept nice and cold. I don’t envy those that are spending time in and out of the fridge at this time of year. Mind you, there may be a steady queue outside the walk-in fridges if we get a heat-wave later in the year. I suppose there might be enough space as long as the reagents don’t mind us muscling in. After all, we have got ABO and Rhesus blood groups in us too.

I think that may be one of the worst excuses to jump into a fridge I have ever come up with. I can’t see anyone falling for it.

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Why The Basque People Should Stay Positive

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I mentioned the Rhesus blood groups in my last post. Most people have heard of the ABO blood groups but the Rhesus blood groups are less well known about. Being Rhesus positive relates to the presence of the D antigen on one’s red blood cells. If you don’t have it, you are Rhesus negative.

The name is derived from the Rhesus macaque – a small species of monkey that was used in the early experiments by Karl Landsteiner and Alexander Weiner. They identified the Rhesus blood groups way back in the 1940s. It turns out to be a bit more complicated than just having or not having the D antigen on your red blood cells. These things never are that straight forward.

It turns out that as well as being important when receiving a blood transfusion, it also plays its part in Hemolytic Disease of the Newborn. If a Rhesus negative mother is carrying a Rhesus positive fetus, there is a risk that the incompatibility can cause the child to be born with the disease. Those most at risk are the Basque people of northern Spain, who are more likely to be Rhesus negative than people elsewhere in the world.

Well, fancy that!

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Camels (again) and monkeys too!

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So, I finished another week at Lorne and I met up with friends for some hard-earned rest and relaxation. ‘I read the blog entry about the camel’, my friend piped up. ‘I thought you guys were laboratory equipment suppliers… what’s with the camel story?’

‘We do more than just laboratory equipment’, I retorted. ‘We make blood grouping reagents – you know, to tell you what blood groups you belong to.’

‘Camels don’t store water in their humps’, another friend suggested. ‘They actually store water in their blood’. We were back to camels again. ‘Can you tell what blood group a camel belongs to?’

Anyway, the next half hour is all about blood groups. They had heard of the ABO blood groups but it all started turning pear-shaped when I mentioned the Rhesus blood groups. ‘Now you’ve moved from camels to monkeys’, the first friend pointed out, helpfully. I explained that the Rhesus blood groups were indeed connected to the monkeys of the same name. A simple conversation about blood groups had become invaded by camels and monkeys. How could I stop them thinking I am working at a zoo?

‘Have I ever told you that we are laboratory equipment suppliers?’ 

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