
The man with the golden blood - ColinWright
http://mosaicscience.com/story/man-golden-blood
======
IvyMike
Most people who donate blood just go into a pool, but 'directed' blood
donations are very interesting.

I found out about directed donation when someone I know was found to be a
close match for a baby with Diamond Blackfan anemia. He was asked if he would
do directed blood donations to that baby on a regular basis. It was a serious
commitment; missing a donation would put the child's life in danger. There
were additional sacrifices--he couldn't travel a lot of places (for example,
countries with malaria) as that would disqualify his blood.

The happy conclusion is that after five years, the parents had another child
who was a perfect match for bone marrow, and after a marrow transfusion the
Diamond Blackfan anemia was cured.

~~~
mrfusion
I get a postcard whenever they use my donated blood. I wonder how that works,
does everyone in a given pool get the postcard?

~~~
IvyMike
Just to be clear: when I said "pool", they don't like, blend the blood--I just
meant that your bag of blood is available for general usage. They can and do
track individual packs.

Regarding the postcard: I have donated in Illinois and California and have
never gotten one. But I haven't been able to donate for a few years now
because of trips into malaria zones, so if this is a recent thing, that would
explain it.

~~~
Mandatum
I had this nasty image of a big metal vat of blood being mixed with a giant
wooden spoon Willy-Wonka-style.

~~~
solistice
That would most likely result in another blood contamination scandal similar
to
[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_Economy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_Economy)]
in Henan China, where blood was mixed in centrifuges to save cost,
subsequently infecting large amounts of the affected population with HIV.

But i had that image in my head as well, a big dirty vat of blood somewhere in
a dipilated factory building.

~~~
Mandatum
Wow.. That's pretty terrible. It seems countries import blood, I wonder what
the price they pay for it is, or if there's such thing as "blood farms"..

According to this article, Australia spent $31M in a single year on
blood/plasma 'products':
[http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/australias-
blood-b...](http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/australias-blood-bill-
hits-31m/story-e6frf7kx-1226430355269)

EDIT: It appears Pfizer and Baxter are the major suppliers to Australia.

------
MrJagil
What an amazing reading experience. So rarely do you see an article with so
few distractions.

I wish I had something substantial to add, but I was just in awe by the
presentation, the clear-cut contact information and credentials laid out, the
pleasant font choices and how the related stories weren't pushed on you as
opportunities for ad-rev, but for enlightenment for the curious.

~~~
wffurr
I was highly distracted by the nonessential photos of bagged blood, which I
found super creepy.

~~~
MrJagil
Yeah, in the bottom it says "name changed" so I assume the anonymity resulted
in an overdose of stock photos.

~~~
puzzlingcaptcha
Each photo is credited to the photographer listed at the end of the article,
so I am not sure what your point is. They were likely all taken at IBGRL,
mentioned in the text.

------
sosuke
Really interesting situation, and very frustrating that none of the rare blood
donors costs can be paid for by hospitals. Seems like there should be some
loop hole to get them compensated.

~~~
csdrane
I would have guessed that the reason for prohibiting payment for blood would
be the same as the reason prohibiting payment for organ donations. Interesting
that in this case it is blamed on trying to minimize donations from people
with HIV.

~~~
niels_olson
It's not just HIV. It's any infectious disease (there is a thick book of
reasons to disallow a donation). The problem is that these infectious diseases
are socially disruptive, therefore these folk, unfortunately, tend to have
less marginal income. Therefore, they are exactly the people who would respond
to a small monetary incentive. This has been studied. If anyone is acutely
aware of the problem, it's blood banks. So this issue is revisited routinely.
Here is a recent review on the topic:

[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2847338/](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2847338/)

~~~
joezydeco
I'm advocating tax deductions as an incentive.

If I give $350 in cash to the American Red Cross, I can take that charitable
deduction from my annual filing. If I donate a unit of blood that gives ARC
$350 in products, that's not deductible.

The incentive side steps the donor-with-marginal-income problem, unless I'm
missing something.

~~~
zaroth
IRS Pub 526 on Charitable Contributions, Page 2:

    
    
      Not Deductible As Charitable Contributions:
        Cost of raffle, bingo, or lottery tickets
        Dues, fees, or bills paid to ...
        Tuition
        Value of your time or services
        *Value of blood given to a blood bank*
    

It's amazing how many details the IRS pubs cover. I like your proposal though.

------
pierre
Just a note about the international travel described in this article : Geneva
and Annemasse are twin city and share the same bus system. Thomas in this
article could just get into a TPG bus from anywher in geneva and arrive in
annemasse hospital less than 40 minute after. (geneva and anemasse are small
cities)

~~~
acveilleux
However Amsterdam, the other place they mention is a smidgen further away.

------
PhantomGremlin
It's amazing the Kafkaesque rules that have evolved about blood donation. The
article does touch on them.

I'm not allowed to donate blood (any more), for what I think is an absurd
reason. I spent a few months in England, over 30 years ago. So now the USA is
afraid that any blood I donate will infect America with Mad Cow disease.

If those same rules were applied in the UK, nobody there would be able to give
blood. The actual Red Cross text is:

    
    
       You are not eligible to donate if:
    
          From January 1, 1980, through December 31, 1996,
          you spent (visited or lived) a cumulative time
          of 3 months or more, in the United Kingdom (UK),
          ... [1]
    

Those same rules go on to ban _all of Europe_ from donating blood:

    
    
       You spent (visited or lived) a cumulative time of
       5 years or more from January 1, 1980, to present,
       in any combination of country(ies) in Europe, ...
    

I did get my "gallon pin", which they give out after 8 donations, before the
rules were changed. So there could be quite a few vCJD infected people
wandering around the USA because of me.

Given the litigious environment in the USA, I understand why the Red Cross has
these rules. But it doesn't make sense from a scientific point of view.

[1] [http://www.redcrossblood.org/donating-blood/eligibility-
requ...](http://www.redcrossblood.org/donating-blood/eligibility-
requirements/eligibility-criteria-alphabetical-listing#arc5)

~~~
fragmede
The problem boils down to the fact that there is currently no way to test your
blood for blood donating purposes, especially if you're asymptomatic.

I mean, there's this disease, and it kills people, and is known that blood
transfusions _can_ infect people and we don't have a test for it. What would
you have the Red Cross do?

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creutzfeldt%E2%80%93Jakob_dise...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creutzfeldt%E2%80%93Jakob_disease#Blood_donor_restrictions)

~~~
PhantomGremlin
> What would you have the Red Cross do?

I understand that the US Red Cross is in a difficult position. But the health
authorities in the UK (who are presumably "closer" to the situation) don't
have the same restrictions. Of course that might be simple expediency, since
by the US rules _nobody_ in the UK could donate.

------
guard-of-terra
I wonder if it's possible to create a blood-producing machine (with bone
marrow culture and whatnot).

And then by manipulating its genetic code slightly make it produce whatever
blood we want. Better yet, take a sample from one perfect donor and make
golden blood at a scale.

~~~
gioele
> I wonder if it's possible to create a blood-producing machine (with bone
> marrow culture and whatnot).

People have been trying since the 17th century:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_substitute](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_substitute)

------
leeoniya
i was half-expecting this to be about Dr. Kent Brantly (ebola survivor whose
blood continues to be used for transfusions)

~~~
gordaco
I thought this was about James Harrison [1], "also known as the Man with the
golden arm" according to wikipedia. He has donated plasma more than 1000
times.

Somehow, talking about blood donations is one of the few things that helps my
mood when I'm on a bad day. When I donate, I feel that maybe I do matter.

[1]:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Harrison_%28blood_donor%2...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Harrison_%28blood_donor%29)

------
thedevopsguy
My brain is shutting down and I can't parse this phrase.

[1] "If you lack an antigen that 99 per cent of people in the world are
positive for, then your blood is considered rare."

[2] "If you lack one that 99.99 per cent of people are positive for, then you
have very rare blood."

Surely the author is saying the same thing here?

~~~
ManFromUranus
number 2 has an extra .99 percent, so I guess in point 2, only 0.01 percent of
people will have it (whatever IT is), vs 1 percent of people having the thing
in point 1.

~~~
thedevopsguy
Missed the extra 9. Read and re-read. sincerely thought he called two
identical categories rare and very rare.

Long day

thanks.

------
graycat
For the person in the OP who needed heart surgery and, thus, needed compatible
blood for the surgical procedure, why didn't that person just donate their own
blood, say, one pint at at time, over some weeks, have it frozen, and then
have it thawed out for them just before the surgery?

~~~
jeffdavis
Or, to take it step further: if you have a rare blood type, start banking your
blood early. Makes sense to me.

------
post_break
Anyone else find it odd that he can't donate spare blood for himself? It seems
unfair.

~~~
masklinn
The article specifically mentions that he can and has since he turned 18:

> When he turned 18, Thomas was encouraged to donate blood for himself. There
> is now no frozen blood bank in Switzerland, so his blood is stored in the
> rare blood banks in Paris and Amsterdam.

And that his approval is required for doctors to draw into his "personal
stash":

> Since his blood can be given to anyone with a negative Rh blood type, Thomas
> could save countless lives. But if he ever needs blood himself, he can
> receive only Rhnull blood. If he donates a unit for himself, he has to
> permit it to be used by anyone else who might need it.

The article strongly hints that donations for third parties are not stored in
blood banks but donated directly (because fresh blood can be kept for much
longer, frozen blood has to be used within 4 days of thawing)

~~~
function_seven
> If he donates a unit for himself, he has to permit it to be used by anyone
> else who might need it.

That sentence could have been worded better. This is the way I read it:

    
    
        If he donates a unit for himself, he must allow it
        to be used by anyone else who might need it.

~~~
ceejayoz
I read it as him having a separate personal bank of blood units, that are
reserved for his use unless he gives them permission to take from it.

~~~
antimagic
He _has to_ permit _anyone_ \- in other words they're not really asking him
permission. I read that sentence to mean that he doesn't actually have any say
over who gets to use his blood.

~~~
ars
No, you are reading that incorrectly. You should email the author and ask him
to rephrase it.

~~~
function_seven
Is there another source for this? Using phrases "has to" and "anyone" implies
requirement.

In fact, the very next sentence is "This leaves Thomas dependent on other
Rhnull donors", which re-enforces my reading of the previous line. If he could
have a private stash, he would not be dependent on other donors.

~~~
zaroth
Standing alone it's impossible to derive the true meaning; it's the perfect
doppelganger.

Based on the subsequent sentence I decided the author was in fact claiming
that he couldn't save blood for his own exclusive use, but then immediately
thought that can't possibly be true.

Poor machines will never learn to speak this language!

------
Zaephyr
Fascinating article. I was only aware of the 4 major blood types plus Rh±,
it's also inspiring the efforts people will make to help others.

~~~
smsm42
Same here. I was vaguely aware there are more but nowhere nearly realized how
complex and varied the real situation is. Very illuminating article.

------
xutopia
What an interesting read! Thanks for sharing!

------
ForHackernews
Reminds me of James Harrison: [http://gizmodo.com/how-one-mans-blood-
donations-saved-over-t...](http://gizmodo.com/how-one-mans-blood-donations-
saved-over-two-million-liv-1608870890)

------
c23gooey
This was a well written and inspiring article.

Reading this made me call the Red Cross and get back into giving blood.

------
lawlorg
They should clone this guy, just so they can have more sources of his blood
type

------
member345
Could someone explain what is happening on those photos with the blood bags?

~~~
catfacedlady
some details here: [https://mosaicscience.com/extra/inside-blood-
factory](https://mosaicscience.com/extra/inside-blood-factory)

