Scientists from the University of Bristol and NHS Blood & Transplant (NHSBT) have discovered a rare new blood group system. The findings, published in Blood, the journal of the American Society of Hematology, also solve a 30-year mystery...In this study, individuals with alloantibodies against a collection of antigens termed Er, that were first observed more than 30-years ago, were investigated by applying a powerful technique allowing simultaneous analysis of all their gene coding DNA sequences. Specific changes were identified in the gene coding for the Piezo1 protein, which would result in the production of an altered protein on the cell...