Golden Blood

Orion - the wounded lover

Jungkook was in a really good mood as he entered Uni, much else from the past weeks. His time with Taehyung was healingly, and he couldn't wait to see him again. But for now, he needed to focus on the guest professor that was getting ready for his lecture. "Who's that?" Jungkook asked as he sat next to Hobi. "Kim Namjoon. Professor from Ilsan, expert in blood type serology and genetics." Jungkook nodded in interest. "He looks pretty young." "He is. Was proclaimed to be a genius. I heard Jinnie is befriend with him."

Jungkook's eyebrows raised. "Really?" Hobi nodded. The professor cleared his throat as he started. "hello, my name is professor Kim Namjoon and I will talk today about the most precious but at the same time most dangerous blood type on earth." He turned to write something to the chalkboard.

"Blood type Rh 0 or also called "The golden blood". Jungkook took notes listening to what the professor was saying. "We are currently trying to figure out if we can reproduce or clone the blood type, since it's a perfect match for everyone to donate. However, let me start first what it is about."

He scribbled with the chalk a few letters to the chalkboard. "the surface of red blood cells consists of various structures, including carbohydrates like sugar and proteins. They are called blood group antigens. Everyone has a certain type of these antigens in several combinations. These characteristics result in different blood groups. They're like a fingerprint. A total of 38 blood type systems are currently known. Two of them are the most important for medicine: The AB0 system and the Rhesus system."

Jungkook took notes, somehow having the scent of Taehyung's blood in his nose while thinking of blood types, chewing on his lips needily.

"The AB0 system distinguishes between four groups: A, B, AB and 0. The letters indicate whether the respective antigen is present on the cell surface. The system is structured logically: Anyone who has blood group A has A antigens on the cell surface. People with blood type AB have both A and B antigens. People with blood group 0 do not have either of these two antigens. In the first six months of life, antibodies - defense mechanisms - are formed against blood group antigens that the body does not know: people with A therefore only form an anti-B, with blood group B it is the other way round. Blood group 0 produces antibodies against A and B."

Hobi sneezed loudly, making everyone snicker. "Talking about antigens. I hope you had your flu vaccination." Everyone laughed. Jungkook quickly handed the other a tissue as he asked for it, and took some more notes.

"Where was I? Right...All of this plays a major role in blood transfusions. When red blood cells are transferred, the recipient must not have antibodies against the donor's red blood cells - they would clump together and possibly trigger a fatal reaction."

Jungkook thought back at the time Jin tried to give him a blood transfusion and how it failed. This really was interesting. Did he give him the wrong blood?

"Now let's look into the rhesus system. In the rhesus blood group system, a distinction is currently made between 55 antigens. The five most important ones are called D, C, c, E and e. The so-called Rhesus factor D is clinically most important. This factor occurs in a large proportion of the population (85 percent). If the blood cells carry it on their surface, one is Rh-positive; if this factor is absent, one is Rh-negative. However, this is a strong simplification of the principle, because these terms actually only refer to the D factor."

Jungkook nodded taking more notes.

"However, if the blood lacks all 55 characteristics from the Rh system, it is officially referred to as Rh-zero - the rarest blood group in the world. Currently, around 43 people worldwide are known to have this so-called 'golden blood'. In theory, these people would be the perfect donors if the AB0 group is right. But because they are so extremely rare, transmissions of golden blood hardly play a role in everyday medical practice."