Blood Type Inheritance Chart
Blood Type Inheritance Table
| Parents' Blood Type | Possible Children's Blood Type | Impossible Children's Blood Type |
|---|---|---|
| O + O | O | A, B, AB |
| O + A | A, O | B, AB |
| O + B | B, O | A, AB |
| O + AB | A, B | O, AB |
| A + A | A, O | AB, B |
| A + B | AB, A, B, O | - |
| A + AB | A, B, AB | O |
| B + B | B, O | A, AB |
| B + AB | A, B, AB | O |
| AB + AB | A, B, AB | O |
ABO blood group system
Human blood contains the following antigens and antibodies, which determine different blood types:
- People with type A blood have A antigens on the surface of their red blood cells; their serum produces antibodies against B antigens. A person with type A blood can only receive type A or type O blood.
- People with type B blood are the opposite of those with type A; they have B antigens on the surface of their red blood cells; their serum produces antibodies against A antigens. People with type B blood can likewise only receive type B or type O blood.
- People with type AB blood have both A and B antigens on the surface of their red blood cells; their serum does not produce antibodies against A or B antigens. Therefore, if the antibodies in the donor’s blood are separated before transfusion, people with type AB blood are universal recipients. However, they can donate blood only to people of the same blood type; for example, AB individuals can donate only to AB individuals.
- People with type O blood have neither A nor B antigens on the surface of their red blood cells. Their serum produces antibodies against both antigens. Therefore, if the antibodies in the donor’s blood are separated before transfusion, people with type O blood are universal donors. However, they can only receive blood from the same blood type; for example, type O individuals can receive only type O blood.
Basically, type O is the most common blood type in the world. But in certain places, such as Norway, Finland, Turkey, and Japan, people with type A are more numerous. The A antigen is generally more common than the B antigen. Because AB type requires both A and B antigens, it is also the least common within the ABO blood groups. The distribution of ABO blood types is related to region and ethnicity.
Inheritance of the ABO blood group system
In general, if both parents are type O, the children are most likely to be type O; if one parent is type AB, the children are unlikely to be type O; parents with type A and type O are unlikely to have children with type B or type AB blood; parents with type B and type O are unlikely to have children with type A or type AB blood; if one parent is type O, the children are unlikely to be type AB.
From a statistical viewpoint, the renowned blood-type researcher Professor F. Bernstein of the University of Göttingen stated: "In the primitive period, early hominids all had type O blood; later, mutations successively gave rise to types A and B. As time went on, the initially sole type O blood split into type A and type B." The combination of A and B produced new O, A, B, and AB types. The charts cover the vast majority of data, but there is an extremely small chance of a pseudo-O type.
