There is not only red and blue blood: there is also gold (and it is the rarest blood in the world)

Obviously, blood is only red. But associating it with a color has also served not only to classify human beings, who were divided between aristocrats and commoners –with all the classist aspects of this distinction–, but also to differentiate between blood types.

Of course, blood types are divided into letters, as well as positive and negative signs. But there is also a curious blood type which has been called «golden blood», alluding to a metaphor. Because it is not a new class classification, but a true blood type variation, whose scientific name is Rh null.

Golden blood is the rarest blood type in the world.

It is compared to gold because it is very valuable:
so far only 43 people with golden blood have been known.

What makes it so special is that the most common blood types are A, B, AB and O, letters that help to know what type of protein covers red blood cells. These proteins are called “antigens”, of which there are A and B., which give meaning to the classification by letters. For example, a type AB means that the red blood cells have both antigens, while type A red blood cells will have A antigens on the surface and antibodies against the B antigens in the plasma.

In turn, the O blood type means that the red blood cells do not have antigens, while if a blood type is positive this implies that it has another type of antigen: the RhD factor. On the other hand, if it is negative, this means that it does not have it.

In addition to these blood types, there are more than 300:
160 of them are “normal”.

And it is that the RhD factor has more than 50 variations.

Like type O-negative blood, the red blood cells of golden blood do not have antigens, nor does the more common RhD factor. The difference is that Gold Bloods also have none of the other RhD types, which is a rarity in the sanguine world.

This makes its carriers very special donors, because although this blood cannot be administered in all cases, it has the potential to save very specific lives. And it is that golden blood can be transferred to everyone with unusual blood types. Although, for the same reason, those who have null Rh running through their veins find it difficult to find donors, and they also tend to contract mild anemia easily.

Thus, golden blood has a dialectic that functions as a metaphor for life: everything has its positive side, its negative side, and its mediations. This blood type is worth its weight in gold, but it can be a burden to its owner.

* Images: 1) Havoc and Consequence; 2) Nat Geo

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