Austrian-born US immunologist who was awarded a Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1930 for his discovery of the ABO
blood group system in the period 190002. He also aided in the discovery of the Rhesus blood factors in 1940, and discovered the polio virus.
In 1927 Landsteiner found that, in addition to antigens A and B, human blood cells contain one or other or both of two heritable antigens, M and N. These are of no importance in transfusions, because human serum does not contain the corresponding antibodies, but they are of value in resolving paternity disputes.
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