How are antibodies used for blood typing, HELP on the experiment

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Susanaregis
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How are antibodies used for blood typing, HELP on the experiment

Post by Susanaregis »

Hi,
I have a question related to a science project on how are antibodies used for blood typing. My questions is related on how to get the eight results. We received the package which includes the necessary items needed to work on the project we were only able to test four blood type groups yet there are eight types of blood to be tested. We were only able test A+, O-, AB+ and B- which are the main groups (ABO). How do I test the other groups which are A-, O+, AB- and B+ using the synthetic samples provided in the kit.

Thank you,
Susan
koneill18
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Re: How are antibodies used for blood typing, HELP on the experiment

Post by koneill18 »

Hello!

Is this the project that you're working on?
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... ng#summary

The kit only comes with 4 synthetic blood samples to test, so you will only be able to get 4 out of the 8 possible blood types. As you said, the 4 blood samples that you tested correspond to the 4 possible blood type combinations (A, B, AB, and O). The positive or negative result just tells you if the red blood cells have a Rhesus factor or not. For example, your synthetic blood sample was A+, meaning that it was type A synthetic blood that had the Rhesus factor present. If the Rhesus factor wasn't there, then you would have recorded the result as A negative. But since the kit only includes 4 samples, you only got the A positive blood type and the A negative type wasn't there.

I hope this answers your question!
Katelyn
Susanaregis
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Joined: Tue Nov 03, 2020 12:16 pm
Occupation: Parent

Re: How are antibodies used for blood typing, HELP on the experiment

Post by Susanaregis »

Thank you, that was very helpful.
As a follow up, what happens if you mix two different synthetic blood samples together? This is a variation of the experiment and how would I do this to get the results and what should I look for in the reactions? What is the process? Thanks again for your response.

Susan
koneill18
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Re: How are antibodies used for blood typing, HELP on the experiment

Post by koneill18 »

Hi Susan,

In this experiment, you're using antisera type A and B. Antisera type A contains antibodies that bind specifically to the A antigen on red blood cells and antisera type B contains antibodies that bind to the B antigen. If you add antisera A to a synthetic blood sample that has the A antigen, then the antibodies from the type A antisera will bind to the A antigen in the sample and form noticeable clumps.

Everyone's blood contains antibodies against the blood type that they don't have. So if you have type A blood, you have antibodies against the B antigen in your plasma because your body recognizes the B type blood as "foreign" to you. If you receive a blood transfusion from someone who has type B blood, then your anti-B antibodies will bind to the B antigen in the donor blood to alert your immune system that there are foreign cells in your body that need to be destroyed. That's why it's essential to make sure that patients only receive blood samples from people who have blood types that are compatible with theirs. If you mixed a real A type blood sample with a real B type sample, then I imagine you would see some clumping as the anti-B antibodies from the A type blood react with the B type blood.

However, the blood samples you're using in this kit are synthetic and I'm not entirely sure what's in them. For that reason, they may not react the same way as real blood samples. I would suggest making a hypothesis based on what you think would happen if these were real blood samples. Then you can add one drop of one sample to one drop of another sample, mix them thoroughly, and see if any clumping or color changes happen. After you observe what happens, you can report whether or not your hypothesis was correct.

I hope this helps! Let us know if you have more questions or need some more clarification!
Katelyn
cnoonan180
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Re: How are antibodies used for blood typing, HELP on the experiment

Post by cnoonan180 »

Hello!

Here is a link to another forum post that helped a student with a blood-typing project and contains information about antibodies and their role in blood typing which may help with your project.

viewtopic.php?t=21774

Hope this helps & good luck with your project!
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