Blood Typing Lab

Depending on the blood type you have, you will have a different antigen.
O: No antigens
A: A antigens
B: B antigens
AB: A and B antigens

If you get a blood transfusion and you have O blood, you couldn't mix with A because the A antigens would attack the O blood. You could give O to anything, it is a universal donor since O has no antigens. AB is a universal recipient because it can use both A antigens and B antigens.

Mrs. Neto did a demo for us to show how the different blood types can or cannot be mixed. For example, the clear water (O) can't have A or B added to it, but it can add to A or B. Think of the colors as the antigens, so the AB can take everything in because it has both blue and yellow to create green.

Rh is a type of protein on the outside of red blood cells. If there is Rh present, it is positive blood. If Rh is not present, it is negative blood.

Here is a table of the different blood types and the antigens and Rh need to be present:

Blood Type	Antigen A (Present)	Antigen B (Present)	Rh (Present)
O+	No	No	Yes
A+	Yes	No	Yes
B+	No	Yes	Yes
O-	No	No	No
A-	Yes	No	No
AB+	Yes	Yes	Yes
B-	No	Yes	No
AB-	Yes	Yes	No

The next thing we did was test our own blood to find out what type it is. If the blood has a reaction to the Anti-antigen, then it means that antigen is present.


After getting my finger pricked, Mrs. Neto put one drop of blood in each anti-antigen, and we stirred the mixture to see if there was a reaction.



Here is the table of how my blood reacted to the anti-antigens. 

Trial	Reaction with Anti-A (Y/N)	Reaction with Anti-B (Y/N)	Reaction with Anti-Rh	Determined Blood Type
Emily	Yes	No	Yes	A+

According to the results, I have an A+ blood type. This means that I can donate to other people with A+ blood and other people with A+, A-, O+ and O- blood can give me blood.