Blood Types

This article was written by Stella Fonyat, Year 8

Why do humans have different blood types?

That is the most searched question on Google, so let’s answer it!

We have different blood types as a result of genetic mutations. (No, I do not mean Dr.Curtis Connors also known as Lizard Man from Spider-Man) but the actual answer is very complicated. But we are children, so I will sum it up in an easier way.

Every person has a blood type, whether it’s A,B,O or even AB. Each of them with a different chemical marker that’s attached to the red blood cells. Like a name tag perhaps. Of course, to make this more complicated it could be negative or positive. But these name tags are more than important. If you are badly hurt or something along these lines, you might need extra blood. But if you were to be given the wrong blood type, your body would reject it.

Do your parents have the same blood type?

Each biological parent passes at least one gene. So the child’s blood type is a mix of those genes. Even though it would make sense to have the same blood type as your parents, it may not always happen. For an example if your parents have a blood type AB or O an A or B offspring could be made.

What percentage of people have different blood types?

O POSITIVE:35%

O NEGATIVE:13%

A POSITIVE: 30%

A NEGATIVE:8%

B POSITIVE:8%

B NEGATIVE:2%

AB POSITIVE:2%

AB NEGATIVE:1%

But wait.. what’s gold blood? Gold blood is Rh-null. Only 50 people in the whole wide world have this blood type. It isn’t great though. This is considered terrible mostly because it can lead to disease and worse.

In the end, this question was complicated to answer. But luckily we have answered it. I even have a joke based on the topic. My cousin died last week. He needed a blood transfusion but we didn't know his blood type. He just kept saying "b positive, b positive" but it's hard to be positive with him gone.

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!