Blood Group Serology and “Race”: Looking Back to Move Forward

Less than a decade after the discovery of the ABO antigens as a Mendelian inherited trait, blood group antigen frequencies were first used to define racial groups. This approach, known as seroanthropology, was the basis for collecting large amounts of blood group frequency data in different populations and was also sometimes used for racist purposes. Ultimately, population geneticists used these data to disprove race as a biological construct. Through understanding the history of seroanthropology, and recognizing the harms of its lingering presence, healthcare providers can better practice race-conscious, as opposed to race-based, transfusion medicine.