A Brief History of Blood Transfusion

It wasn't always a sterile bag and a smile. The history of transfusion is wild.

The Dark Ages

In the 1600s, doctors tried transfusing blood from sheep and calves into humans. It... didn't go well. It was banned for centuries.

The Breakthrough (1901)

Karl Landsteiner discovered the ABO blood groups. He realized that mixing Type A and Type B caused clumping. This discovery won him the Nobel Prize and made safe transfusion possible.

The Modern Era

In World War II, we learned to separate plasma and store blood. Today, we are on the verge of lab-grown blood. Science marches on!