New blood type discovered in woman who would be compatible 'only with herself'

A French woman from Guadeloupe has been identified as the only known carrier of a new blood type , called "Gwada negative," an official from the French Blood Institute (EFS) said Friday, confirming a report by France Inter radio station.

In 2011, a " very particular and unknown antibody " was detected in this patient, but the technical means at the time did not allow further research, explained Thierry Peyrard, pharmacist and medical biologist, responsible for the quality and safety of blood products at the EFS .

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Scientists were able to " solve the mystery " in 2019, thanks to " very high-speed DNA sequencing ," which revealed a genetic mutation, he added.

The name "Gwada negative," which refers to the patient's Guadeloupean origins and " sounds good in all languages ," was very well received by experts, according to Peyrard. The discovery of this new group was officially announced in early June in Milan by the International Society for Blood Transfusion (ISBT) , the EFS reported on social media.

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Now in her sixties, the patient was 54 years old and living in Paris when, during routine tests prior to surgery, the unknown antibody was detected, Peyrard said.

" Today, she is the only one who is compatible with herself in the entire world ," while for other rare blood types, there are usually small groups of compatible individuals, like siblings. This woman would be, according to the specialist, " the only known case in the world ."

The researcher and his team are currently developing a special protocol in the hope of finding other people with the same type, " especially in Guadeloupe, among blood donors ."

This blood type is inherited from both parents, each of whom was a carrier of the mutated gene . Like their parents, the patient's siblings were carriers of only one allele, so they did not have this blood type, which only manifests when two identical genes are inherited.

AFP