It has taken more than five decades for scientists to discover that there is a new blood group, the MAL system. The fact is that they have now solved a medical mystery that went unresolved since 1972, when a pregnant woman presented an anomaly that left experts puzzled: one of the key proteins in her blood did not appear in its complete form. Since then, scientists have tried to decipher the genetic origin of this irregularity without success… until now.
What is blood for?
If you skipped that class in high school, we’ll explain it for you. Blood is the most important tissue in the human body, it performs vital functions such as transporting oxygen and nutrients from the heart to all organs and also collecting waste produced by our organs. Basically, it is the engine that makes our body function properly.
What is the MAL system?
This system becomes the 47th blood group (yes, there are 47 types of blood groups), although many things about it are still unknown, for example, it is not known precisely which gene encodes the protein that appears incomplete in this group.
According to virologist Radostina Alexandrova, from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, it is a special structure that may be related to rare clinical cases and difficulties in transfusions or pregnancies.
Is there a relationship between blood and diseases?
According to this professor, blood type is indeed related to certain diseases and how our body responds to them, and she highlights, for example, the relationship between blood type O and the possibility of suffering from severe cholera, first making it clear that cholera is a treatable and curable disease, and that having blood type O does not mean that all people with this blood type will suffer from it, but that they are more likely to do so.
Why is there a higher chance of getting cholera?
According to researchers, they have shown that in people with blood type O, the cholera toxin hyperactivates certain intestinal molecules, causing greater fluid loss. Although cholera is now treatable, this biological difference could explain why, in the past, some people survived and others did not during the most severe outbreaks.
And rare diseases?
It also happens that rare diseases attract the attention of specialists, forcing them to innovate, since they require solutions that are not standardized and personalized attention for each individual who suffers from them.
In this case, the MAL blood group was born from monitoring a single case, so an anomaly is an incredible opportunity to learn something new about the human body.
Why is it important to identify new blood types?
Blood is a vital, irreplaceable component. Although artificial substitutes are being researched, there is still no effective alternative that reproduces its functions. That is why it is important to continue researching other blood groups, to improve transfusion compatibility and also to prevent immune reactions in some medical procedures.