Importance of the Blood Groups in Laboratory and Clinical Medicine

"HUMAN beings have blood group patterns as distinctive and individual as fingerprints." This is a prediction that was first suggested by Landsteiner in 1927. He had just discovered the M-N blood groups and the P groups, and was then able with the use also of the A-B-O groups to subdivide human beings into 36 different types. At present it is possible, with the useful blood-typing serums so far discovered, to subdivide human beings into over 600,000 types. The commonest of these would be found once in 200 typings. Many of the uncommon types are so rare that one would not . . .