The silliness of Rhesus negative blood and aliens, gods, nephilim, etc.

Rhesus negative blood seems to be one of the pseudoscientific buzzwords that mystery-mongers exploit on the internet.

Going around and around the internet are memes-usually from people like Robert Sepehr (who claims to be an “anthropologist”)-about how there’s something significant about people who have a rhesus negative blood type. One of the memes claims that “Rh-negative appeared suddenly 35,000 years ago in Cro-magnon,” and pretends to ask provocative questions about “why an Rh-negative mother” would reject an “Rh-positive” fetus, etc. This one is from Sepehr and it closes with the bold statement that “humanity isn’t one race, but a hybrid species.” He fails to elucidate with what we are hybrid with. One is left to buy one of his fictional books that he strangely markets as non-fiction. I think there we might find he meant the Annunuki, the Nephilim, aliens, or [insert favorite god].

Background on Blood Groups

There are several ways of grouping blood. About 35 ways, actually. The two most people are familiar with are the ABO and Rh methods [1]. This is where we get designations like “A Positive,” “B Negative,” “O Positive,” etc. The “Rh” comes from “Rhesus,” as in the Rhesus macaques that were initially used in studying the blood group. Beyond that, “Rhesus” is just a label.

Rh-negative meme going around Facebook

The Rh blood groups have 49 antigens, but only D, C, E, c, and e are the most significant. The terms Rh positive and rhesus negative blood (Rh negative) refer only to the D antigen. A negative expression of the D antigen is caused by a deletion of the RHD gene. This happens in about 15% of Caucasian populations, about 8% in Black populations, and less than 1% in Asian populations. This distribution of occurrence is probably the source of Sepephr’s claim about it appearing “suddenly in Cro-magnon.” But we’ll look at this a bit more further in the article.

The Affect of RHD Deletion

The absence of the RHD antigen is problematic for someone receiving a blood transfusion. In the same way doctors must ensure a match between ABO groups (though being a recipient vs. donor can make a difference), it’s also important that Rh factor also be considered. Also, if a mother who is Rh-negative is pregnant with a baby that is Rh-positive, the mother’s immune system can attack the baby’s blood. This is because people who are Rh-positive have the D antigen in the red blood cells. People who are Rh-negative do not, and will produce antibodies that attack the Rh antigens as though they were foreign germs. This creates a sometimes fatal blood disease called erythroblastosis fetalis [2] in newborns.

Not a real mystery today. It was probably 100 years ago, but today there are treatments for pregnant women that are almost always effective. So

Donor – recipient chart for ABO-Rh blood types.

why does Sepehr pose the question, “why does the body of an Rh negative mother carrying an Rh positive child try to reject her own offspring?” I can think of only two answers to why Sepehr asks this: 1) he’s ignorant of simple human evolution and biology and lacks the research skills to conduct a proper literature review of a topic; or 2) he knows and is lying to his readers in order to create hyperbole and mystery where none previously existed in order to sell books. In either case, he is unworthy of the apparently self-applied labels “author” and “anthropologist.”

What is the origin of this (or any) blood group?

This is difficult to answer since there isn’t a method to travel time and do population-wide blood tests. However, we can make some inferences based on available evidence. If you remember, I noted that the distribution of the rhesus negative blood (the Rh-negative expression–or the deletion of the RHD antigen) is currently 15% among Caucasians, 8% among Blacks, and less than 1% among Asians. Recent studies in parasitology have actually shed some light on this very question.

In a 2008 study, researchers [3] found that individuals who had both the Rh-positive and the rhesus negative blood alleles showed no decrease in reaction times in spite of infection with Toxoplasma gondii. a protozoan parasite that is common throughout the world and impairs reaction times of those infected to a point that they have 2-6 times higher risk for traffic accidents. The hypothesis for this neurological effect is to increase the likelihood that the protozoan will be transmitted from a carrier (bird, mouse, or other mammal) to it’s preferred host, which is any feline species.

The study above (actually a set of studies) looked at 4 different population samples of almost 1000 people total (n=868). They were broken down by sex, Rh -/+, and whether or not they had the Toxoplasma gondii infection.

Overall, those that were Toxoplasma-free and also rhesus negative blood appeared to have quicker reaction times. Those that were positive for Toxoplasma gondii and Rh-negative showed some decreased reaction times. But for those that were heterozygous for the RhD allele, that is to say–those that had genetic alleles for both Rh-positive and Rh-negative expression, their reaction times were remained the same whether they were infected with Toxoplasma or not.

The results seemed to indicate that there is an evolutionary advantage for a population to have the RhD deletion within it. This isn’t dissimilar from other genetic expressions that are seemingly harmful to individuals, but can have some overall positive benefits to a population. The sickle-cell trait is one such expression. While it can cause anemia within individuals, a carrier that isn’t anemic can avoid malaria.

The authors of the study above suggest that the higher incidence of Rh-negative among Caucasions isn’t because of their skin color. It’s because of geography and the relatively recent migration of feline species to Europe. In Africa and Asia, where felines have been for longer periods, the populations have had the opportunity to obtain balance and more heterozygous expression. In Europe, where the common domestic cat has been only for the last 2,000 or perhaps 3,000 years or so, the RhD deletion is more homozygous–the genetic expression across a gene pair is the same: either positive or negative (DD or dd).

No Grandiose Mystery Involving Aliens, Gods, or Giants

Antigens and antibodies

Having rhesus negative blood is no more mysterious than having blue or green eyes in a world full of mostly brown. Or red hair. Or the ability to process starches better with increased amylase. Different cultures have genetic expressions that are more common than others, often because of some advantage it provides based on the environment they live in. Or the environment their ancestors lived in.

Blood type is determined by DNA and DNA changes with time within populations. Some changes are bad some are not. Some have no negative or positive affect. Positive changes that offer an organism favor within its environment ensure that it reproduces and get carried on to that organism’s descendants. Changes (mutations) that are harmful often don’t allow the organism to reproduce, so those changes don’t get passed on to new generations. Changes in DNA that are neither beneficial nor deleterious–or at least not deleterious enough to kill off an organism, will get passed on.

And this is one reason why the RhD-Toxoplasma researchers were curious about Rh-negative expression. Because it was clearly so harmful, yet also because it survived multiple generations for so long, they reasoned that it had to have some positive outcome for a population.

So, when you see people going on about being “Rh-negative” and being some sort of “hybrid,” you have to ask: what does that even mean?

References and notes:

  1. Dean, L. (2005). “The Rh Blood Group,” in Blood Groups and Red Cell Antigens. Bethesda, MD: National Center for Biotechnology Information. Found online at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2269/
  2. ibid
  3. Novotna, M., et al (2008) Toxoplasma and reaction time: role of toxoplasmosis in the origin, preservation and geographical distirbution of Rh blood group polymorphism. Parasitology, 135(11), 1253-61.
About Carl Feagans 396 Articles
Professional archaeologist that currently works for the United States Forest Service at the Land Between the Lakes Recreation Area in Kentucky and Tennessee. I'm also a 12-year veteran of the U.S. Army and spent another 10 years doing adventure programming with at-risk teens before earning my master's degree at the University of Texas at Arlington.

9 Comments

  1. SHAME ON YOU….you are the one that needs to brush up your research skills!!!!!!!!!You are full of s….t and regurgitating what’s circulating already without ANY PROOF.

    This is how you do research!!!!!

    “We found no evidence that positive natural selection affected the frequency of the RHD deletion. Thus, the initial rise to intermediate frequency of the RHD deletion in European populations may simply be explained by genetic drift/ founder effect, or by an older or more complex sweep that we are insufficiently powered to detect.”
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3378649/

  2. Heh. You seem a little upset. If you go back and read what I wrote, I also said, “this is difficult to answer,” with regard to what the origin of this or any blood group. Then I briefly discussed one study I came across that I found interesting.

    I’m an archaeologist. I’m not an M.D.

    But I’m also pretty sure there are probably a few other researchers (actual researchers, not humps like you and I with mad Google-Fu skillz) who are looking at blood groups and have varied opinions based on their quantitative research (not search-fu) in laboratories. And these opinions probably include all sorts of ideas whether or not the deletion of the RHD antigen was a result of positive selection.

    I did find interesting, however, that Perry, Xue, Smith, et al (2012) did not cite or account for the results of Novatna, et al (2008).

    Personally, I’m inclined to think Perry, Xue, Smith, et al are probably correct. I still find the results of Novatna, et al to be provocative.

    But either support the larger point I was trying to make, which is that there simply is nothing special about having a Rhesus negative blood type. Not in the way chuckleheads like Robert Sephr would have you believe.

    Oh, and “LIAR” in all caps? Don’t you think that’s a bit much. Particularly since I wasn’t lying? I was results of Novatna, et al, silly.

    My advice: take a break from the interwebs. Go have a coke and a smile.

  3. This was extremely poor – you presented absolutely nothing to demonstrate Sepehr being remotely “silly” and only made yourself look stupid in the process.

    You have no answers for any of the questions that a thoughtful person would respect – “that’s just how it is.”

    The fact is no one knows where ANY blood types come from, the origins – and whether or not they are even mutations – are THEORIES STILL. There is also no inference on “skin color” which you introduce into the topic.

    People like you are so annoying – your writing matches your picture.

  4. Stighelmer, thanks so much for taking time to reply to my article on rhesus negative blood. I actually do appreciate it.

    It would seem, however, that you didn’t read it very closely.

    “…you presented absolutely nothing to demonstrate Sepehr being remotely ‘silly'”

    Well, the point of the article wasn’t to attack Sepher’s character. It was to point out that the idea that being Rh negative somehow connects people to being aliens, nephilim, or gods (i.e. the Anunnaki) which is what you might read at various fringe and pseudoscience websites or groups on the internet.

    That said, I *did* actually point out that Sepher is either lying or stupid, and one could make the argument that either could make him silly. I’ll leave that to others however.

    Also, if you read the article more carefully, you’ll note that I, too, said no one really knows how blood types developed. There are some folks with pretty good educated opinions on this, but it’s safe to say that ‘aliens, gods, and nephilim” are unnecessary.

    Oh, and I don’t understand your comment that there is no inference on skin color. I presented the facts, among them the correlations to ethnicity (15% among Caucasians, 8% among Blacks, and less than 1% among Asians). This isn’t my data. Moreover, I also presented a study that thinks they might have an explanation for the correlation that includes geography in the cause. No where am I suggesting that race is a cause of blood typing. But there is the fact that there are strong correlations to blood typing and what we perceive as “race.”

    The authors of the study I presented may be wrong. The point of showing it was to introduce the notion of geographic origin or other causation as potential explanations.

    Now that you’ve said how stupid and silly I am, what is your opinion on the origin of Rh Negative blood groups and why? Please feel free to support with scientific data.

    Thanks again for commenting!

  5. Ummm…nobody really answered crap that those with interest haven’t gathered for themselves already..the real question without an answer is why is all the real information hidden??..almost like it’s forbidden to discuss.There’s something significant about it…may not be aliens and what not, but definitely something…sometimes I think the answers are hidden in plain site…

  6. Your basically regurgitating every single piece of information thats already all over the internet. Yes everyone knows why theres positive and negative blood we all how it works, none of this is new news your just trying to bash on another guy. Whats funnier is that you want to make it sound like u completely solved the case. All you did was explain why our blood works the way it is, other than that…… You got nothing.

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