Discovery of the blood group Gwada negative: only one wearer worldwide!

Discovery of the blood group Gwada negative: only one wearer worldwide!

Guadeloupe, Frankreich - In France, a novel blood group was discovered, which is known under the name "Gwada Negative". This blood group, which is also classified as an EMM negative, was first found in a routine examination in a 54-year-old woman in 2011 who comes from Guadeloupe and lives in Paris. Special features of this blood group are the lack of the EMM antigen and the presence of an unknown antibody. So far, the wearer is the only known person worldwide with this blood group, which makes discovery to the rarest of the blood type ever, such as krone.at and The Hindu report.

In 2019, the genetic mutation was identified by high throughput DNA sequencing, which is responsible for the lack of the EMM antigen. This mutation was inherited by the wearer by her parents, which led to the determination that her blood group is unique because she is only compatible with herself. The Blutinstitut has found that Gwada is negative of the 48th blood group system worldwide and the International Society for Blood Transfusion (ISBT) officially recognized the discovery in early June 2025 during a meeting in Milan.

special position in transfusion medicine

One of the greatest challenges with this new blood group is that the wearer cannot donate or receive any blood, since no other identified donor exists with the EMM negative blood type. This brings serious clinical implications with it because people can form alloantibodies without frequent blood group antigens like Emm. In the case of transfusions, this could lead to dangerous reactions if blood is administered with the missing antigen. Therefore, there is now actively looking for other "Gwada negative" providers to improve the care of people with rare blood groups and increase transfusion security, as on OpenScience can be read.

The discovery of the blood group not only revolutionized medical science, but is also the result of decades of research and observation. Since the first systematic classification of blood groups by Karl Landsteiner in 1901, the knowledge of human blood groups has developed steadily. In the meantime, 43 blood group systems have been recognized at ISBT, including the common systems AB0 and Rhesus.

The rarity of "Gwada negative" is primarily due to the high prevalence of the EMM antigen in humanity, which is why the lack of this highly incidence antigen is so extraordinary. The fact is that the recognition of less blood groups can decide to ensure life -saving transfusions and identify suitable blood donors.