Ratcheting up the Panic
"Golden Blood" RHnull
"And because Rhnull blood can be considered ‘universal’ blood for anyone with rare blood types within the Rh system, its life-saving capability is enormous. As such, it’s also highly prized by doctors – although it will be given to patients only in extreme circumstances, and after very careful consideration, because it may be nigh on impossible to replace. “It’s the golden blood,” says Dr Thierry Peyrard, the current Director of the National Immunohematology Reference Laboratory in Paris.
Blood groups are inherited, and Rhnull is known to run in families. So the next step for the haematologists in Geneva was to test Thomas’ family in the hope of finding another source, particularly as Thomas wouldn’t be able to donate until he turned 18. Things looked even more hopeful when it turned out Thomas’ grandfathers were third-degree cousins. But the tests showed Thomas’ Rhnull blood was due to two completely different random mutations on both sides. Pure chance, twice over, in the face of vanishingly small odds."
https://mosaicscience.com/story/man-golden-blood/
The day the music died– they day you realized all your favs were SICK