Posted by This is depiction of the uterus of a woman going through her second pregnancy. She is Rh negative and previously gave birth to a Rh positive baby but did not receive RhoGAM to stop the build up of Rh antibodies in her blood. Subsequently, she became pregnant again with a second child who is Rh + and the Rh antibodies (depicted as the tiny balls) attack the baby.
This is a very intriguing topic regarding genetics and how genes are passed on. More often than not genes are often considered as useful tools for the further gain of a species or individual’s evolutionary gain. This can be anything the color of a birds feathers or the ability to see color in the first place. Genes can also be harmful though, for if everything was perfect then there wouldn’t be so much diversity and individuality to begin with. This is exactly what Trika has shown in this project. A woman was lucky to have a child that ended up being rh positive with a negative mother and not have something severe happen. In the case here it has been clearly demonstrated how antibodies and genetics are connected. In this case it is dangerous for an rh negative woman to give birth to a child with her partner because her first born was rh positive. This caused a build up of the harmful rh antibodies which could have been helped, but instead they built up after the first response and thus are destroying the second baby. This is like when someone is stung by a bee but is allergic, as for the first time the antibodies won’t spike too high and they may be alright. After the second time, though, the body knows exactly how to respond and thus a very severe anaphylactic response occurs. Trika’s project is a splendid example of the hot topic of antibodies which is occurring in the general public today, and also of how genetics play a role in our lives everyday even if we do not see it. Knowing our blood types is important in this matter, and even having a good understanding of our genetics can be beneficial as well.