Republic of the Philippines
BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Rizal Avenue Extension, Batangas City
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
Bachelor of Science in Biology Program
LAB ACTIVITY NO. 11
THE ABO BLOOD GROUPING SYSTEM
Group No.2 / Members: Date: October 15, 2020
Bauyon, Kristel Joy
Bermudez, Jireh Alexson
Cornejo, Christine Joy
Culala, Paula Urlica
Dimailig, Jasper
Furto, Mark Gil
Course/Block: BS Bio 1102
I. Introduction
The ABO blood grouping system illustrates the concept of immune response by
demonstrating how a living tissue, blood, reacts in the presence of a foreign substance-
another blood type.
Blood types are genetically determined. The most common blood grouping system is
the ABO system. In this system, blood is classified into four types: A, B, AB, and O.
Differences in blood types are determined in the ABO system by the presence or
absence of marker proteins, called antigens, on the cell membranes of the red blood
cells. Antigens are chemicals that stimulate an immune response in the blood. The
letters A and B stand for the type of antigen present on the red blood cells. Thus, blood
type A has A antigens; blood type B has B antigens; blood type AB has both A
antigens and B antigens; and blood type O has no antigens.
In addition to antigens, blood also contains proteins called antibodies. These
antibodies destroy or neutralize foreign substances, such as pathogens, that enter the
body. Antibodies are located in blood plasma, or the liquid part of blood. They
recognize and react to the presence of foreign antigens by locking onto them like
matching pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.
Each type of blood contains antibodies for the antigens it does not have itself. Thus,
type A blood has B antibodies; type B blood has A antibodies; type AB blood has no
antibodies; and type O blood has both A and B antibodies.
Knowing which blood types are compatible is critical before giving blood
transfusions. If a person receives an incompatible blood transfusion, an immune
response is triggered. The antibodies in the recipient´s blood destroy the foreign red
blood cells. The red blood cells clump together, cutting off blood flow through the
blood vessels and capillaries.
In this Virtual Lab you will examine how the body protects itself against foreign
substances. You will prepare a slide of patient´s blood and add Anti-A and Anti-B
serum to determine which blood types in the ABO blood grouping system are
compatible for transfusions.
Hypothesis
If the red blood cells clump when mixed with A antibodies, but did not show any
reaction with the B antibodies, then the patient has type A blood. If the red blood cells
clump when mixed with B antibodies, but did not show any reaction with the A
antibodies, then the patient has type B blood. If the red blood cells did not clump when
mixed with both A antibodies and B antibodies, then the patient has type O blood. If
the red blood cells clump when mixed with both A antibodies and B antibodies, then
the patient has type AB blood.
Objectives
Explain how blood is classified in the ABO blood grouping system.
Discuss how the immune system reacts to incompatible blood types.
Explain why blood types must be checked before transfusions are given.
II. Materials
Slide
Test tube
Pipette Bulb
Test tube Rock
3 blood sample
Erlenmeyer’s Flask
Anti- A Serum (contains A antibodies)
Anti- B Serum (contains B antibodies)
III. Procedure
1. Click the arrow to scroll through the poster and examine the blood types.
2. Click the View Immune Response button to learn how incompatible blood
transfusions cause an immune response. Click the hand pointing right to
advance through the steps of the immune response. Click the hand
pointing left to go back a step. Click the Show Blood Types button to
return to the poster of blood types.
3. Choose a test tube of patient´s blood to identify its blood type as A, B,
AB, or O. Click the pipette bulb in the test tube to transfer two drops of
blood to the microscope slide. (If blood is already on the slide and you
want to start over or examine the blood of another patient, click the Clean
Slide button.)
4. To determine the type of antigens and antibodies present in the blood, add
serum to the slide. Click the pipette bulb in one of the flasks of serum.
Repeat this step using the other type of serum.
5. Observe the results and use the poster of blood types to determine which
types are compatible with the serum that was added. If the drop of blood
on the slide clots, then the blood and the serum are incompatible. If
nothing happens to the drop of blood on the slide and there is no clotting,
then the blood and the serum are compatible.
6. Given the results of adding both types of serum to the blood, determine the
patient´s blood type. Click and drag the appropriate test tube label-A, B,
AB, or O-to the test tube of patient´s blood. (Note: You can only label the
test tube containing the blood that is currently on the slide.
7. Click the Check button.
If you incorrectly determined the patient´s blood type, the test tube
label will be highlighted. Use the poster of blood types, examine
the data on the microscope slide, and try again.
If you correctly determined the patient´s blood type, a small
microscope slide of the data will appear below the test tube of
blood. Record the data in your Table.
8. Repeat this procedure to determine the blood types of the other patients.
9. Complete the Journal questions.
10. Click the Reset button to get a different set of blood samples.
IV. Observation
The figure at the side shows that the
red blood cells in the blood from
Patient 1 clump together when mixed
with the serum that has A antibodies,
while showed no reaction when
mixed with the serum with B
antibodies. Therefore, Patient 1 has
type A blood.
The figure at the side shows that the
red blood cells in the blood from
patient 2 clump together when mixed
with the serum that has A antibodies
while showed no reaction when
mixed with the serum with B
antibodies. Therefore Patient 2 has
type A blood.
The figure at the side shows that the
red blood cells in the blood from
Patient 3 clump together when mixed
with both the serum that has A
antibodies and the serum with B
antibodies. Therefore, Patient 3 has
type AB blood.
Blood Types Data
Reaction When Reaction When
Patient Anti-A Serum Anti-B Serum Blood Type
Added Added
The blood clumped There is no
1 A
together. reaction.
The blood clumped There is no
2 A
together. reaction.
The blood clumped The blood clumped
3 AB
together. together.
V. Analysis
1. Why is it important to know a person's blood type before giving him
or her a transfusion?
The importance of knowing the blood type of a person before the
transfusion proceeds is to prevent the risk of receiving an incompatible
blood type that causes of immune response triggers to the person’s body
and it may lead to blood clumping and cutting off the blood flow through
veins and capillaries.
2. What are antigens and antibodies? How are they involved in the
body's response to incompatible blood?
Antigens are chemicals that stimulate an immune response in the
blood. On the other hand, the antibodies destroy or neutralize foreign
substances, such as pathogens, that enter the body. It happens when the
immune system will produce antibodies against any blood antigens that it
has unmatched.
3. Describe the immune response that occurs when an individual
receives a transfusion of incompatible blood.
The immune system will produce antibodies against the
incompatible blood antigens that may cause blood clumping then the veins
and capillaries are cut off to prevent overwhelm infection.
4. People with blood type O are considered to be universal donors. That
is, they can donate blood to all other blood types. Using your
knowledge of blood types and the immune system, explain why this is
true.
O blood types are special in that they have no antigens. O negative
blood is viewed as the all-inclusive blood contributor type since it is viable
with each of the A, AB, B, and O positive blood types. The widespread
contributor blood types are O negative. Anybody with this blood
classification can give blood to an individual who needs it paying little
heed to their blood types.
5. People with type AB blood are considered to be universal recipients.
That is, they can receive blood from all other blood types. Explain
why this is true using your knowledge of blood types and the immune
system.
Individuals with type AB+ blood are universal recipients since
they have no antibodies to A, B, or Rh in their blood and can get red
platelets from a contributor of any blood types.
VI. Conclusion
ABO grouping is a test performed to determine an individual's blood type.
It is based on the premise that individuals have antigens on their red blood cells
(RBCs) that correspond to the four main blood groups: A, B, O, and AB. If you
have type AB blood, you have both A and B antigens. This means you’re a
universal recipient and you can receive any type of blood. However, you can only
donate blood to other people who have type AB blood. If you have type O blood,
which has no antigens, you’re a universal donor. You can give your blood to
anyone without triggering their immune system, but you can only receive type O
blood. If you have type A blood, which has A antigen on the surface of their
RBCs can receive blood only from individuals of groups A or O (with A being
preferable), and can donate blood to individuals with type A or AB. If you have
type B blood, which has B antigen on the surface of their RBCs can receive blood
only from individuals of groups B or O (with B being preferable), and can donate
blood to individuals with type B or AB. Moreover, the importance of knowing
your blood type is to prevent the risk of you receiving an incompatible blood type
at a time of need, such as during a blood transfusion or during surgery. If two
different blood types are mixed, it can lead to a clumping of blood cells that can
be potentially fatal.
