A lab technician added a few drops of antigen d to a blood sample.what was the aim of him by doing so?

1 Answer
Apr 19, 2018

This is to test whether or not the blood sample contains that specific antigen on the cell. If the blood sample reacts to this antigen, then that antigen is not present on the blood cells in the sample.

This is because of clonal deletion- if the developing (especially B cells) blood cells contain antibodies that can recognize and bind to their own blood type's antigens (possibly indicating that is a "foreign antigen", although it is part of the organism's own blood cells), then those cells undergo apoptosis to prevent a future autoimmune response (a response to one's own antigens).

Therefore, if the sample reacts with the antigen, this means that the B cells recognize that antigen as foreign (that antigen is not a protein present on the cells of the sample) and will react to it. If it does not react with the antigen, then that antigen is contained on the cells of the blood sample, since the cells in the sample do not recognize it to be foreign.

Hope this helps!