Scientists don find new blood group afta 50-year mystery

NHS scientists don find one new blood group system wey solve one 50 year old mystery.

Di research team wey di NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) scientists for South Gloucestershire bin lead find di blood group wey dem call MAL.

Dem identify di genetic background of wetin dem bin dey call di AnWj blood group antigen bifor. Dem discover dis antigen for 1972 but dem no know till now wey dem develop dis first test for world.

Senior research scientist for NHSBT, Louise Tilley tok say dis discovery mean say dem go fit offer beta care to rare patients.

Ms Tilley, wey work for di project for 20 years tell BBC say e dey hard to put number on how many pipo go benefit from di test. But di NHSBT na last busstop for like 400 patients worldwide everi year.

Everibodi get proteins outside dia red blood cells wey dem dey call antigens but e get small number of pipo wey fit no get am.

Wit genetic testing, NHSBT International Blood Group Reference Laboratory for Filton for di first time don develop test wey go find patients wey no get dis antigen.

Di test fit be lifesaver for pipo wey dia bodi dey reject blood transfusion and make am easier to find blood developers for dis kain are blood type.

Philip Brown wey dey work for di laboratory bin get one form of leukaemia about 20 years ago.

E for die if not for di blood transfusions and bone marrow transplant wey im do.

E say, "anytin we fit do so dat our blood go dey safer and go match patients more na step in di right direction."

Oga-Madam of di laboratory Nicole Thornton tok say: “To solve di genetic basis for AnWj don be one of our most challenging projects.

“Plenti work dey wey dey enta to prove say gene actually dey encode blood group antigen, but na wetin dey ginger us, to make di discoveries so rare patients worldwide go fit benefit from am.

“Now genotyping tests fit dey designed to find genetically AnWj-negative patients and donors.

"Dis kain test fit join di genotyping platforms wey dey exist.”

'World-first test'

Our health reporter Matthew Hill tok say e bin "dey easy to downgrade di international significance" of NHSBT for Filton.

"No be only say dem don develop di world-first test but dem also don dey give kontris around di world antibodies to carry do dia own research.

"Dem dey from reference labs from oda kontris wey don do all dem fit do and dey send samples to NHSBT," na so e tok.

Di oga of di lab Nicole Thornton tell am say: “Most times if di labs no fit solve and we go need to do more work to fit find new blood group or blood group system if e no easy to solve for our hands.

"And na wia interesting cases dey come from. We get new work wey we dey do wey we tink sa go bring some new antigens for current blood systems but also new blood group systems to add to di one wey we just publish."