Landsteiner’s law
The reciprocal relationship between antigens on the red blood cells and antibodies in the serum is known as Landsteiner’s law. Karl Landsteiner suggested that the phenomenon was not pathology, as was the prevalent thought at the time, but was a physiological phenomenon due to the unique nature of the individual’s blood.
It states that:
- If an agglutinogen is present in the red cells of a blood, the corresponding agglutinin must be absent from the plasma.
- If an agglutinogen is absent in the red cells of a blood, the corresponding agglutinin must be present in the plasma.
Applicability of the law:
- The first law holds true for all types of blood grouping.
- The second law is a fact for ABO blood groups.
- The Rh,M,N and other blood groups do not follow the second part of landsteiner’s law.
Short biography About Karl Landsteiner:
- Karl Landsteiner (1868-1943), the Austrian-born American immunologist was the only child of Leopold Landsteiner, a prominent Austrian journalist and editor, and Fanny Hess Landsteiner.
- Karl Landsteiner, has been titled as the “father of immunology”.
- He discovered the blood groups (ABO) and framed the Landsteiner’s Law by 1904.
- In 1930 he received the Nobel Prize for his discovery.
- Continued to research on Blood groups and types till his death.
