Knowra Alexander S. Wiener Alexander S. Wiener Alexander S. Wiener (1907–1976) was an American immunohematologist who co-discovered the Rh blood group system and developed the Rh-Hr theory of its inheritance.
Karl Landsteiner : An Austrian-born immunologist who discovered the ABO blood group system and co-discovered the Rh factor. Wiener collaborated with Landsteiner on the discovery of the Rh blood group factor.
Rh blood group system : A system of red-cell antigens, including D, C, c, E, and e, that determines clinically significant blood-group differences. This is the blood-group system Wiener helped discover and characterize.
Fisher–Race nomenclature : A notation system that explains Rh antigens through three closely linked gene pairs: C/c, D/d, and E/e. This model offered a simpler genetic account than Wiener’s proposed complex antigens.
Rh incompatibility : An immune mismatch in which a person’s Rh antibodies react against red cells bearing an Rh antigen. Wiener’s work clarified how this mismatch can harm transfusion recipients and fetuses.
Philip Levine : An American immunologist whose work on blood groups and transfusion medicine helped establish the clinical importance of Rh incompatibility. Levine independently identified the antibody central to the early Rh discovery and later disputed Wiener’s genetic model.
Rh-Hr theory : Wiener’s model of Rh inheritance, in which each inherited gene determines a complex red-cell antigen. Wiener developed this theory to explain patterns of Rh antigen inheritance.
RhCE protein : A red-cell membrane protein that carries the C, c, E, and e antigens of the Rh system. Its molecular structure supports the antigen distinctions emphasized by the Fisher–Race model.
Rh immune globulin : A preparation of anti-D immunoglobulin used to prevent Rh-negative people from becoming sensitized to D-positive red cells. Its preventive use addresses the sensitization process Wiener’s research helped explain.
Ruth Sanger : An Australian serologist who made major contributions to blood group genetics and collaborated with R. R. Race. Her research helped develop the competing genetic interpretation of the Rh system.
Rhesus factor : A red-cell antigen, usually D, whose presence or absence is central to Rh-positive and Rh-negative classification. The factor’s discovery initiated Wiener’s best-known research.
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