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Herophilus was the first Greek anatomist to openly dissect humans. He theorized that arteries were thicker than veins, and the arteries carried the blood.
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Aristotle theorized that the heart was the main organ in the body. He dissected many animals and came to the conclusion that the heart was three chambered, and supposed this was true in humans also.
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Ibn al-Nafis, a physician in Cairo, looks at the studies done on blood and develops his own theories after performing a dissection. He finds that blood flows to and from the lungs. This is called pulmonary circulation.
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Fabricius, an anatomist, published the first popular book on blood. His book featured detailed drawings of veins which gave the public a more clear idea of the concept.
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Jan Swammerdam becomes the first person to describe red blood cells. Using a microscope, Jan was able to observe the red blood cells and develop new theories.
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Marcello Malpighi, an Italian anatomist observed the capillary system under a miscroscope for the first time. He saw a network of vessels that consisted of arteries and veins.
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Richard Lower, of England, performed the first blood transfusion on animals. He used a syringe to tranfer blood from the jugular of one dog to the artery of another dog.
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French physician, Jean Denis , performed a transfusion on a sick teenage boy with a high fever using lamb's blood. Surprisingly the boy recovered, and lamb's blood was frequently used from there on.
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William Hewson published, "Experimental Enquiry into the properties of Blood" which explained every detail of his blood research. The book described what is now known today as fibrogen.
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James Blundell, a physiologist, transfuses the blood from one human to another. After suffering from internal bleeding a patient is given blood from multiple donors. However, the patient ended up dying after showing improvement.
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Sir William Osler discovers cell fragments in bone marrow. He then continues to find clots in the blood vessels which today are known as platelets.
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Karl Landsteiner published the first paper describing three different blood types. In the paper he explains that different blood types cannot be mixed together, which is why the human blood transfusions have failed.
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Landsteiner's colleagues discover the blood group "AB". They believe the blood cells of A and B blood types fused together.
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Dr. Hecktoen recommends that blood types should be named compatible before any transfusion. Because of his recommendation cross matching is established and transfusions begin on a journey to success.
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Researchers find that applying sodium citrate to blood prevents clotting. This idea is then published and experimented with.
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Dr. Richard Lewisohn combines sodium citrate with donor blood an creates a recipe to prevent coagulation. This blood is then used in many successful transfusions.
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At the Rockefeller Institutue a citrate-glucose solution was developed. This allowed blood to be able to be stored and refrigerated for weeks and still be successful in transfusions.
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During WWI a doctor serving in the army stores blood in order to try to save soldiers. Without knowing it, he establishes the first blood depot.
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Percy Lane Oliver decided to run a blood donor service out of his own home. He recruited volunteers and the service ran smoothly for years.
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After attempting to commit suicide a young man undergoes a blood transfusion with a dead man's blood. After its success this becomes common.
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The first tranfusion service is established a the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. This clinic is the first to store blood and send the blood to various hospitals.
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At the Cook County Hospital in Chicago a doctor describes these blood donation facilities as blood banks. These blood banks begin showing up at every hospital across the country.
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After a woman gave birth to a stillborn, researchers examined her blood and found an unknown anitbody. This antibody was later known as the anti-Rh.
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After a severe plasma shortage, a campaign in arranged in order to develop and preserve plasma. A system is then developed in order to ensure plasma is sterilzed and can be used.
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In order to collect plasma for the war effort the Red Cross establishes a service. Over 13 million units of blood were collected throughout the war.
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Dr. Paul Beeson links several cases of jaundice to blood transfusions. This brings about the idea of blood related hepatitis.
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Directors of blood banks across the nation decided to team up to form a national network. This sets the stage for more research and more findings.
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Using X-ray crystallography Dr. Max Perutz identified the structure of hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen.
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Dr. Judith Pool studied slowly thawed frozen plasma and observed some interesting properties. She found that the plasma had greater clotting power than normal plasma.
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The secretary of health found it necessary to transfer the regulation of the blood banking industry to the federal institute, the FDA. Because of this many tests were mandated by the FDA.
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The GRID (gay- related immunodeficiency disease) was first reported among gay men. This was later renamed as AIDS.
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Dr. Bruce Evatt found that even hemophiliacs were acquiring GRID. He then developed the theory that the sydnrome may be blood borne.
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At a lab in France the AIDS causing virus was isolated by researchers. It was found in the swollen lymph node of an AIDS victim.
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Dr. Robert Gallo of the National Institute of Health found the virus that caused AIDS. He called it the HTLV III (human T-cell lymphotrophic virus).
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The first blood screening test is performed due to the spread of AIDS due to blood transfusions. The test is adopted world-wide in order to control the spread of AIDS.