Whanganui woman one of just 11 in the world with MAM negative blood type

A woman who is one of only 11 people in the world with her blood type is helping with new research that could have big health implications.

Monique Lawrence, 31, of Whanganui, got the shock news she had a MAM negative blood type when she was pregnant with her second child in 2015.

MAM is an antigen, or substance, that all people carry on their red blood cells. The vast majority of the population are MAM positive, but a tiny proportion, like Lawrence, are MAM negative.

Here is her story:

https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/well-good/300082429/whanganui-woman-one-of-just-11-in-the-world-with-mam-negative-blood-type

Her blood type is O positive.

MAM is a different blood group system.

This “new” high-incidence antigen has been named MAM and assigned high-incidence antigen number 901016 by the International Society of Blood Transfusion. The corresponding antibody, anti-MAM, has been shown to cause HDN and has the potential to shorten RBC survival after the transfusion of incompatible RBC units, as determined by monocyte monolayer assay. Immunoblotting and flow cytometry show that this new antibody reacts with various WBC lines in addition to RBCs. This antibody also appears to react with platelets in some assays.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10988318/