![]() Some try to tell you that the children of the Nephilim, an antediluvian race of fallen angels and/or giants casually mentioned in Genesis, still walk among us-ye shall know them by their Rh-negative blood. No one knows for sure: five magic words that will forever summon swarms of crackpots from dankest cyberspace. Having the gene for Rh negativity seems to improve resistance to the parasitic condition called toxoplasmosis, which may hint at an answer, but no one knows for sure. Things can get tricky when an Rh-negative mother is carrying an Rh-positive fetus-if she’s been exposed to Rh-positive blood before (typically via a prior pregnancy), she’ll produce antibodies that can attack her helpless kiddo like it’s an infection.Īs with most of our species’ biological oddities, scientists believe that Rh-negative blood initially resulted from a DNA mutation that evidently served some sort of evolutionary purpose that research hasn’t quite yet nailed down. It’s always good to know your blood type, but particularly when you’re pregnant. The slim minority of humans without? Rh-negative. If you’ve got it-and most of us do-you’re Rh-positive. The term Rh factor is commonly used to refer to the presence of a certain protein, the D antigen, on the surface of an individual’s red blood cells. Now, blood can seem like a loaded concept, I guess-essence of life, symbol of tribal identity, beverage of vampires, etc.-so maybe even the otherwise level-headed get weird about it sometimes. On examination, they generally seem to be people who had certain theories about how the world worked long before they learned of Rh negativity. Instead, as you say, the question is where these crypto-hematologists emerged from and what their deal is. But I’ll go out on a limb here and assume that none of my readers actually suspects some randy E.T. Various stalwart rationalists, bless ’em all, have labored above and beyond to debunk this stuff. Many links concerning Rh-negative blood look kosher enough in your search results but when clicked release a flood of wide-eyed theories about ethnic migration, blood-type-based dating tips, and offers to trace your ancestry back to extraterrestrials, angels, or lizards. That sure is some netherworld of dodgy disinfo you inadvertently spelunked into, Katrina-no place you’d want to find yourself without up-to-date antivirus software, an airtight pop-up blocker, and ideally a strong stomach. Where did all this crazy mythology surrounding blood types come from? -Katrina I’ve heard this can cause pregnancy issues, so I Googled “Rh-negative blood” and ran across a bunch of weirdo sites with “theories” about the origin of negative blood types and some online communities with seriously racist undertones. ![]() ![]() ![]() Whoops! There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. ![]()
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