Coombs @ Home

Medgadget tipster Juergen tells us about a do-it-yourself at home direct Coombs test. The kit is available at ThinkGeek.com for $8.99.

How many times have you told your love that you would cut off an arm for them? Or give them a kidney or your own blood if they needed it to survive? Well, cutting off an arm is easy, but foolish. And giving blood or a kidney is noble, but could pose a big problem if you don’t share the same blood type. What would happen, you wonder? It’s very simple – your loved one’s blood antibodies would bind to too many antigens in your donor blood causing the erythrocytes of your love to burst. That’s right, their blood would explode!
That’s why we found this awesomely simple DIY Blood Type Test Kit. Just a little prick (no jokes, please), a few drops of blood, a little water, and the special card are all you need to find out what blood type you are. In just a few minutes, you’ll have a card which will show you which antigens you have in your blood (which you can compare to a chart in the instructions to determine your blood type). And even better, this kit comes with a laminating sheet so you can carry the card in with you once it dries. Then, you will never not know what blood type you are, and you won’t have to worry about your blood exploding.

Well, as far as kidney and heart donations go, you better find DIY Human Lymphocyte Antigen (HLA) testing. That’s where the real immunology comes into play.
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