| MadSci Network: General Biology |
Jennifer,
As of now, there are over 240 different blood groups, classified into 27 systems (with some still unclassified). All of the blood groups you listed (plus the others) are antigens that are present on red blood cells. These antigens can generate antibodies that cause significant reactions in some patients. However, reactions to the non-ABO blood groups tends to be sporadic and less severe. As a precaution, during testing of donor blood, the patients serum is mixed with the donor blood to make sure that the patient does not have antibodies that react against the proposed donor blood cells.
There are no genetic associations between ABO blood type and the other blood groups, although they tend to be absent or present to lessor or greater degrees depending upon race and/or ethnic background. It would probably not be important to know what your minor blood group types are, unless you required frequent transfusions.
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