Discoveries

Discovery of the Rh Factor

Also Known As Rhesus Factor

Hematological Discovery

Citation Formats

General Reference

Medicine Atlas. "Discovery of the Rh Factor." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://medicine.interactiveatlas.org/discoveries/discovery-of-the-rh-factor.

APA Style

Medicine Atlas. (n.d.). Discovery of the Rh Factor. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://medicine.interactiveatlas.org/discoveries/discovery-of-the-rh-factor

BibTeX

@misc{medicineatlas-discovery-of-the-rh-factor,
  author = {Medicine Atlas},
  title = {Discovery of the Rh Factor},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://medicine.interactiveatlas.org/discoveries/discovery-of-the-rh-factor},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

Karl Landsteiner and Alexander Wiener identified the Rh factor in 1939, working from serum produced by immunizing rabbits with red blood cells from a rhesus macaque, which gave the antigen its name. Philip Levine and Rufus Stetson published the first clinical case report the same year, describing the severe hemolytic transfusion reaction and hemolytic disease of the newborn that follow when an Rh-negative mother carries an Rh-positive fetus. Roughly 80 to 85 percent of people carry the Rh(D) antigen, making the Rh system the second most clinically significant blood group system after ABO; the discovery led directly to prenatal Rh screening and prophylaxis that dramatically improved maternal and fetal outcomes.

Facts

Discovery Year

1939 1

Discoverer

Karl Landsteiner and Alexander Wiener; the clinical significance was independently reported the same year by Philip Levine and Rufus Stetson. 1

Cross-Tradition Connections