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We used the
technique of double diffusion in agar gel to see whether precipitating
antibodies had formed in the transfused patients which might react with
constituents present in the serums of normal persons.
After testing serums from 13 transfused patients (defined as
a person who had received 25 units of blood or more), we found a serum that
contained a precipitating antibody. It was a very exciting experience to see
these precipitin bands and realize that our predictions had been fulfilled.
The antibody developed in the blood of a patient (C. de B.) who had received
many transfusions for the treatment of obscure anemia. During the course of
the next few months we found that the antibody in C. de B.’s blood reacted
with inherited antigenic specificities on the low density lipoproteins. We
termed this the Ag system; and it has subsequently been the subject of
genetic, clinical, and forensic studies.
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