Non-secretors seem to be less likely to get some stomach illnesses, like stomach flu and ulcers. Okay, with that disclaimer out of the way, here are some of the trends we see with secretor status: We want to make sure we get the same results in many different groups of people before we get too excited! To be sure of the effect of any gene, studies need to be repeated. That said, there is a little bit of research that suggests that being a secretor (or not) affects how we respond to some infections.īefore I get into it, I should say that most of these results have only been found once or twice. Your secretor status might affect some immune responsesįiguring out the role our secretor status plays in our lives is tricky, especially when we still don’t even know how our blood type itself affects our health! So for example, being blood type A does not affect your chance of being a secretor. Your blood type and your secretor status are independent, since they come from two separate genes ( ABO and FUT2). And so on, for all of the fluids that your body makes! And there are cells in your tear ducts that release your antigens into tears. So if you’re a secretor, there are cells in your mouth that release your blood-type antigens into saliva. 1 For the other 20% who are non-secretors, their FUT2 gene has been interrupted by a mutation, so they can’t make the free-floating form of antigens. In secreting cells, the ABO gene instead works with the FUT2 gene to make a version of the antigen that’s free to float around in our body fluids.Īround 80% of people are secretors. In red blood cells, the ABO and FUT1 genes work together to make “sticky” antigens, that stay on the cell surface. This includes the cells in our skin that make sweat, the cells in our mouth that make saliva, and the cells in our airway and digestive system that make mucus. So what are these other cells that read FUT2? They’re any cells that make some type of body fluid. This means the antigens can float around on their own – they don’t need to be stuck to a cell’s surface. Together, ABO and FUT2 make a “soluble” antigen. This antigen attaches to the surface of the red blood cells.īut when other cells make antigens, they read a different gene called FUT2. Together, ABO and FUT1 make a “sticky” antigen. When red blood cells make antigens, they also need to read a gene called FUT1. There are other parts of our body that can make these antigens too! Taking your blood type beyond your blood cellsīut here’s a twist: our blood cells aren’t the only cells reading the ABO gene. Our blood type is based on the antigens that our red blood cells make and stick on their surface. If you’re interested in how we inherit our ABO blood type, take a look at this post. Depending on which instructions your DNA has, you’ll make a certain combination of these antigens - this creates your blood type! Our ABO blood type comes from a stretch of DNA (called the ABO gene) that has the instructions to make these different sugars. When we talk about ABO blood types, we’re talking about different types of sugars that are stuck to the surface of red blood cells. The most I can say is that it has been linked to some disease risks, which I’ll get into below! A primer on blood type We actually don’t know much about how our “secretor status” affects everyday life. Whether you’re a secretor or not is caused by one particular gene, which you can figure out with DNA testing kits. If you’re a secretor, it means that your ABO blood type (A, B, AB, or O) is not only in your blood, but also in other body fluids like saliva and mucus.
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