In the end, the other study turned out to be wrong, and one of its authors later joined forces with Tilley, Thornton, and their colleagues. Together, the group was subsequently able to prove the significance of the MAL gene in some key experiments.
Now that they know the gene in question, it should make it much easier to find AnWj-negative people who could become blood donors so that, if people affected by this blood group ever need a transfusion, they can have one safely.
What they did was really clever," says Sara Trompeter, a consultant hematologist and pediatric hematologist at University College Hospitals London. Trompeter also works for NHS Blood and Transplant but was not involved in the AnWj study.
They presented it at a conference, some of their early work. It was like watching one of those detective shows where they're just picking up on tiny clues and testing hypotheses-things that other people might have ignored.
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