Erythroblastosis fetalis inheritance biology discussion
Answers
Explanation:
Erythroblastosis fetalis, also called hemolytic disease of the newborn, type of anemia in which the red blood cells (erythrocytes) of a fetus are destroyed in a maternal immune reaction resulting from a blood group incompatibility between the fetus and its mother. This incompatibility arises when the fetus inherits a certain blood factor from the father that is absent in the mother. Symptoms of erythroblastosis fetalis range from mild to severe; death of the fetus or newborn sometimes results.
Two blood group systems, Rh and ABO, primarily are associated with erythroblastosis fetalis. The Rh system is responsible for the most severe form of the disease, which can occur when an Rh-negative woman (a woman whose blood cells lack the Rh factor) conceives an Rh-positive fetus. Sensitization of the mother’s immune system (immunization) occurs when fetal red blood cells that carry the Rh factor (an antigen in this context) cross the placental barrier and enter the mother’s bloodstream. They stimulate the production of antibodies, some of which pass across the placenta into fetal circulation and lyse, or break apart, the red blood cells of the fetus (hemolysis).