Blood transfusions are very common and important in modern medicine. However, if someone takes blood from an animal, A thought that is probably unimaginable. “How?” Looks like we hear you say.

In this content, we A human had to take blood from a chimpanzee Let’s imagine and see if this is possible.

Every person in the world has a specific blood type, and these groups have some differences.

Separate blood groups depending on whether they have antigens or antibodies on their red blood cells takes shape. These specific antigens act as signals to the body’s immune system and can be found in various forms on red blood cells.

Furthermore, this situation is not only specific to blood cells, It applies to all cells in the body. In this way, the immune system can target the right cells when looking for potentially harmful substances.

When it comes to classifying blood cells, we come across two major blood group systems: AB0 and Rh.

AB0 system, one person Whether it has A, B, 0 antigens or both It varies per point. For example, if red blood cells have A antigen, this indicates that anti-B antibodies are present in the body.

Likewise, if B antigen is present in the body; It means that the immune system has anti-A antibodies. If the blood group is 0, it can be said that there are no antigens present in the blood and thus both antibodies will be present in the blood.

In addition to AB0, the Rh blood group is the system carried by monkeys that have a blood antigen in their blood similar to that of humans.

macaw (rhesus monkey)

That is, abbreviations such as Rh+ or Rh- It comes from the name of rhesus monkeys. The reason for this is the presence of a protein known as D antigen in the blood of these monkey species.

Moreover, one of these blood types, 0, has a different importance than the others. The blood of people without blood can be used by anyone. universal donor gets the name.

That is, if the red blood cells do not carry AB and Rh antigens, There is no negative reaction in the body’s immune system and donating becomes very safe.

Let’s get to our main topic: is it possible for humans to take blood from chimpanzees?

Surprisingly, both chimpanzees and bonobos It has about 98.7% of the same DNA structure as humans. In addition to these obvious differences in physical appearance, our genetic structure is virtually identical to these two creatures, and it is this surprising similarity that makes the question of blood transfusion between species so interesting.

The process of transferring the blood of one living species into the veins of another species is called xenotransfusion, and it is necessary to do this due to ethical considerations. Although it is often difficult, it is not actually impossible.

The AB0 blood group system is not unique to humans.

This system is also present in chimpanzees and ancient ape species. The difference at this point is that A and B antigens differ between species. For this reason, unless the blood group of chimpanzees is 0, people are much more likely to have complications or be rejected by the immune system.

Although the fact that antigens differ in the form of A and B may initially seem to make compatibility between people difficult, the situation is actually the opposite. When the blood group is 0 and therefore no antigens are present in the blood cells, the immune system cannot find any incentive to go on the defensive.

When it comes to blood transfusion, these animals are actually not a good choice, even though our genetic structure is 98.7% similar to that of chimpanzees.

Unexpectedly, the blood of pigs is much better adapted to the blood of humans than that of chimpanzees and some species of monkeys. The secret of this is the AB0 blood group system, It more easily matches pig antigens.

In addition, the immune system’s response is and The chance that the blood will be completely rejected by the body is also much smaller. You may have heard somewhere that pig heart valves were transferred to the human heart. The reason for this is that the chance of rejection of these heart samples is quite low.

Red blood cells found in pigs; in terms of volume, size and lifespan It bears a great resemblance to humans. It is even possible to alter the genes of these animals to make their blood more compatible with humans.

In summary; In desperate situations, chimpanzee blood can be transferred to humans.

But Provided that your blood group belongs to the O system. Conversely, research into transferring human blood to chimpanzees is currently being conducted by the scientific community, but this is not considered feasible.

Moreover, if it concerns a blood transfusion, if this transfusion has to be from an animal, Pigs instead of chimpanzees seem like a much better option.