Humans have not been around very long. Millions of years before we were even a speck in the eye of the universe, there was life roaming Earth as it spun around the Sun. Now, it’s hard to imagine any other life out there, but the chances of us not being alone in the universe is probably close to the amount of stars we see in the night sky. But before we look to the stars, let’s explore a phenomenon that people are calling ‘alien’ life living among us right now.
Rh-Negative: What Does It Mean?
Before we continue, we want you to know we’re not talking about little green men from Mars. Who were talking about probably looks a lot like you and me. Who we’re talking about are people, more specifically, people whose blood is Rh- negative.
Our blood types tell us about the markers on the surface of our red blood cells. The red cells in our blood can be A, B, AB, or O. The red blood cells also have a protein that is called Rh on the surface of it. Your blood can be Rh positive, which means that you have the Rh protein, or Rh negative, which means that you do not have the Rh protein [1]. So the letter of your blood, plus whether you are Rh positive or negative determines your final blood type.
But why the mystery, why would we suspect these people to be from out of this world?
The Alien Theory
There is definitely mystery about the Rh-factor in people, mostly because of how rare these blood types are. Only about 15% of the United States population have Rh- negative blood [2]. Now, what makes this such a mystery is how these people came about being RH- negative. The laws of genetics state that we can the traits that we have can only be passed down from our ancestors, not including genetic mutations.
So if human beings and monkeys both came from the same ancestor, our blood should reflect that. But, while all monkeys are Rh- positive, not all humans are. In fact, the highest grouping of people who are Rh- negative live in the Basque area of Spain; 30% of the population is Rh- negative [3].
Where Did These Mysterious People Come From?
So where did this group of humans with Rh- negative blood come from? While their origin is still a mystery, scientists believe that they first appeared 35,000 years ago [3].
While there is a lot that we don’t know about Rh- negative blood, there are some things that we do know. For one, if a woman who is Rh- negative and pregnant with a baby that is Rh- positive, her body may perceive her child to be a foreign body. Rh-positive and negative blood do not mix, so the mother’s body creates antibodies to try and fight the perceived threat. Luckily with modern medicine, there is a treatment the mothers can have to prevent this from happening [2].
Another potential advantage that people who are Rh- negative have over others is their ability to withstand certain diseases. One idea is that Rh negative people may be resistant to some of the effects of the parasite Toxoplasma. This parasite can invade our body and damage the brain, especially in babies [4]. Since there is so much we don’t know about Rh- negative blood, they could hold many more advantages that have yet to be discovered.
