Lab Exercise: Antigens And Blood Typing
Lab Exercise (30 Points)
Antigens and Blood Typing
In this lab, you will complete a simulation about a car crash and the importance of proper blood typing for blood transfusions. Follow these instructions to complete your online lab for this module:
1. Click on the following link, or copy and paste the link into your browser: http://www(dot)nobelprize(dot)org/educational/medicine/bloodtypinggame/gamev2/index.html
2. Then click “proceed” at the bottom right of the screen.
3. On the screen that says “Select Game Type,” click “Quick Game – Random Patients” on the left.
4. The next screen should say “Car Crash Victims.” Click “Main Menu” on the top right.
5. On the Main Menu screen, read three brief tutorials on the left and answer the questions below. (Note: After reading the tutorial, click “BACK,” which is in small print on the right side of the burgundy blood typing logo at the top of the page.)
Lab Exercise Readiness Questions
In what year did Karl Landsteiner discover ABO human blood groups?
Later, in 1940, Landsteiner discovered another blood group. What is the name of that blood group system?
According to Tutorial 1, how many blood types are there?
To determine blood type, you need to know which antigens are present. Which antibodies are contained in the three types of reagents?
After mixing the reagent with the blood samples, what does agglutination of the sample indicate?
Describe what happens when blood agglutinates.
If a person has lost blood due to an injury or surgery, or has anemia, what is the most commonly transfused part of the blood?
Explain what happens if a person receives the wrong blood in a transfusion?
What does the term “compatible blood” mean in relationship to blood transfusions?
What happens in emergencies when there is no time for blood typing?
When you write your report or presentation after completing the lab, integrate the answers to these questions in your introduction and discussion where they would be appropriate.
Then proceed with the rest of the lab:
6. Now that you are familiar with how the game is played, click “Start Playing” on the right.
7. The first screen will ask you to select a patient. Since you will test all three patients, select any one of the patients.
8. Follow the instructions in the call-outs to draw blood, and drop blood into all three of the test tubes. You will then choose the patient's blood type and Rh factor:
If you are incorrect, you will get a message that says, “You're bloody wrong. Try again.” Try again by clicking on the drop of blood with an X in the center on the right. You can continue to try until you receive the message that says, “You're bloody right.”
After you identify the blood type correctly, click on the drop of blood with the X in the center. This will take you to “Blood Transfusion,” where you will select the compatible blood for the patient's transfusion. Note that on the bottom left, it states the number of blood bags required.
An arrow on the right side of the blood bags will allow you to access additional compatible samples.
9. Continue to play this game until you are able to save the lives of your three patients. Click “Back,” which is at the very top right hand corner of the page. This will take you to a screen that returns you to the game types.
10. Select the middle game, called Mission Based Game. Register for the game using your CSU-Global email address. Play each of the six missions at least one time. When completed, list the following information.
Number of blood-typed patients
Number of administered blood bags
Number of treated patients
11. After completing this lab, draft your Formal Lab Report. The required outline and structure for this report are below.
Create a Report
Use the following outline to describe the data from your lab in a report. Label each portion of the lab as described below.
Introduction: Start with a broad discussion about blood and its importance, and narrow your focus to the topic of the lab. Be sure to describe the ABO blood types and the Rh factor. Discussion of some of the readiness questions would also be appropriate here. Conclude the introduction with a statement that reflects what you expect to observe during this lab.
Material List: Identify all items that you used and the exact quantities, as applicable. This may be a very short section.
Methods: Describe how you conducted the experiment, including any safety precautions you took while performing the lab. Be sure to include any changes that you made to the original instructions. This should be a short, paraphrased version of the methods from the lab. Do not copy from the lab; Turnitin will highlight it as plagiarism.
Results/Data: Create a table or figure that reflects/compares the results of your experiment.
Discussion: Review your results and discuss whether they were expected. Explain why. Bring in relevant details to expand on the topic. Discuss why proper blood types are important for persons involved in an accident. Do you know your blood type or the blood type of your family members? Discussion of some of the readiness questions would also be appropriate here.
Conclusion: End with a section describing something that intrigued you about the lab; identify errors that may have impacted your results, or note errors in the lab itself; and provide recommendations for future labs.
Requirements:
If you are doing the report, it should be 3-4 pages long, not including the title page.
Reference at least two journal articles.
Include a title page, or a title slide for the presentation, and references at the end.
Follow the CSU-Global Guide to Writing and APA.
Antigens and Blood Typing
Your Name
Your Institution of Affiliation
April 27, 2018
Introduction
The blood is one of the most critical substances within our body. It mainly functions for the regulation, transportation, and protection of the body. Specifically, without it the nutrients and resources needed by each part of the body would not be transported from their sources towards the interstitial spaces, which leads to the failure of their functioning. This result would also be the same given that the waste from these spaces would not be transported through the blood towards adjacent systems that expels them out of the body (i.e. excretory system). Aside from this, another important function of the blood is the protection of the body from harmful microorganisms (e.g. pathogens) which are trying to inflict harm in the body’s cells. Nevertheless, because of the Y-shaped Glycoproteins called Antibodies that functions as identifiers and eliminators of pathogens most of the harmful organisms are destroyed early on within the system. However, despite the critical nature of the blood in our survival, it must be noted that its roles and functions are not as easy as it sounds like. In fact, it would only be during the 1940s when Karl Landsteiner would discover the ABO blood types (and later the Rh Blood type), which would be of critical importance for saving the lives of many from the fatal results of a faulty blood transfusion CITATION Gau17 \l 1033 (Gautam, Mittal, Singh, Srivastava, & Verma, 2017). Nevertheless, what is surprising in his discovery was that the very structures which keeps us alive (e.g. antibodies) are also the main reason, why a lot of blood transfusions tend to kill the patient instead of saving them. Thus, his discovery concluded that transfusing blood to another patient must undergo a thorough examination of its characteristics (e.g. blood type and Rh factor) before doing so. In order to further understand this, an experiment from the “The Blood Typing” was done on how to transfuse blood from one patient to the other. All in all, the author of this article believes that as practitioners, understanding blood types thoroughly is important to deal with matters of emergencies that could mean life and death.
Material List
No Materials are needed for this experiment
Methodology
In order to complete the experiment, the researchers were prompted to complete the game entitled “The Blood Transfusion Game”. Specifically, it would require the player to correctly identify the blood types by mixing the blood collected with three reagents containing A, B, and Rh antibodies. Consequently, the reaction from mixing blood with these three would how the patient’s blood type. Lastly, by the end of the simulation, a transfusion would then be required, requiring an analysis of both the compatible blood type and the quantity of blood needed.
Results
Presented below are the results for the Blood Typing Game
Mission ...