Blood Group Substances: Their Chemistry and Immunochemistry

Abstract

The chemistry of the blood group substances has become a matter of great concern, especially in relation to immunologic mechanisms. Immunochemistry is a highly technical field and an exacting one, but few laboratories are engaged in this work. Kabat's is one of them. His investigations have drawn heavily on the related fields of chemistry, immunology, carbohydrate and protein chemistry, genetics, and clinical medicine. The present volume synthesizes existing information on the blood substances as seen from the viewpoint of quantitative immunochemistry, and in addition presents a comprehensive review of the genetic, serologic, clinical, and anthropological aspects of the blood groups, together with a highly astute analysis of the implications of these findings. The author is well qualified for this task, especially since recent developments in his laboratory have shed the first real light on the relationship of the unique immunological specificity of the blood group A, B, and O substances