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3.13: ABO Blood Type

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    Blood does not follow Mendelian principles. That is because the alleles have more options that just dominant or recessive. Your blood type is created by antigens found on the surface of your blood cells. The antigens can be A or B; some blood cells have no antigens. Antibodies in your immune system will attack if a foreign antigen enters the body, which is why the blood types must match during blood donation. If a person with A antigens gives blood to a person with B antigen blood, the body will attack the blood and cause agglutination, or clotting.

    clipboard_e9f134b586e6c3ae8aca4655228d4e906.png
    Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): A diagram of the Blood Groups

    The A allele is dominant. The B allele is dominant. The O allele is recessive. This results in the following:

    Phenotype: Type A blood

    Genotypes: AA (homozygous dominant) or AO (heterozygous)

    Phenotype: Type B blood

    Genotypes: BB (homozygous dominant) or BO (heterozygous)

    Phenotype Type AB blood

    Genotype: AB (codominant)

    Phenotype: Type O blood

    Genotype: OO (homozygous recessive)

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