Alexander s wiener biography

Life.
He had numerous personal and professional interests.
Alexander Wiener died from leukaemia in New York, USA, aged seventy years.

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Wiener, Alexander S

AMERICAN
PHYSICIAN

In 1940 Alexander Wiener and Karl Landsteiner discovered the Rhesus, or Rh, factor in blood group typing, during the course of a series of scientific experiments. The two scientists injected guinea pigs and rabbits with the red blood cells of rhesus monkeys, and discovered that the experimental animals produced an antibody that agglutinated (caused the red blood cells to clump together) the rhesus red cells. In addition, they discovered that the antibody in the rabbits and guinea pigs' serum also agglutinated blood samples equivalent to approximately 85% of the human population. The percentage rate was later found to correspond to approximately 85% of the Caucasian population and an even larger percentage of the Black and Asian populations.

The agglutination meant that blood cells of the members of the 85% population group contained the same factor as did the rhesus monkeys. Their blood was termed Rh positive (Rh+), and the blood of the remaining 15% was termed Rh negative (Rh-). The Rh antibody reaction was, by its nature, acquir

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Alexander Wiener
(March 16, 1907 - November 6, 1976)
Born in the United States
Year of Discovery: 1937
Put the Positive or Negative into Blood Types, Lowering Infant Mortality

Wiener, the son of Russian immigrants, was a skilled mathematician, president of his high school math club, and studied math at ollege. But, to the benefit of many, in the late 1920s he majored in biology at Cornell University. He went on to medical school at Long Island College of Medicine, where he became interested in the study of blood groups. It was through this work that Wiener discovered the Rh factor. Wiener's discovery of the Rh factor led to safer blood transfusions in adults and to the development of the first blood transfusion method to treat children with Rh haemolytic disease.

Rh haemolytic disease is also known as Hemolytic Disease of the Newborn (HDN). This is a serious, and sometimes fatal disease, that occurs when a fetus's blood type is incompatible with the mother's blood type. Blood is not only classified by type (A, B, O, AB) but also by what is known as Rhesus factor, or Rh fa

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Alexander S. Wiener

American geneticist

Alexander S. Wiener

Born	(1907-03-16)March 16, 1907 New York City
Died	November 6, 1976(1976-11-06) (aged 69) New York City
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Cornell University
Known for	discovery of Rhesus factor
Spouse	Gertrude Rodman
Children	Jane Einhorn, Barbara Krevit
Awards	Albert Lasker Award for clinical research awarded jointly with Karl Landsteiner and Philip Levine for their work on the Rhesus factor, HDN and blood transfusion
Scientific career
Fields	forensic medicine serology blood transfusion

Alexander Solomon Wiener (March 16, 1907 – November 6, 1976), was an American biologist and physician, specializing in the fields of forensic medicine, serology, and immunogenetics. His work led to the discovery of the Rh factor in 1937, along with Karl Landsteiner, and subsequently to the development of exchange transfusion methods that saved the lives of infants with hemolytic disease of the newborn. He received a Lasker Award for his achievement in 1