Where do we Position Transfusion Medicine in the Family of Sciences?

Abstract

Transfusion Medicine has come a long way and has for long been regarded a Cinderella in medicine and medical science. Since the discovery around 1900 by Karl Landsteiner [1] of the ABO blood groups as principle elements for compatibility, the science has been dominated by the laboratory research for immunohematology, microbiology and virology, focused on the test tube and not so much the patient. Over the 20st century several development eras are to be recognized that contributed to the maturation of transfusion medicine as a bridging science. Twenty Nobel laureates contributed to this development.