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health advisory Hospital Doctor Yu 2007-11-8 19:09:52

Answers:

Nothing much.

The first point to realise is that the blood you donate will almost certainly not be transfused as whole blood. It will be separated into platelets, red blood cells, plasma and so forth. Red blood cells (RBCs),plasma and platelets have no nuclei and so have none of you DNA worth speaking of.

The only part of the blood that contains measurable DNA is the white blood cells. They won't get transfused in most cases. But even if whole blood was transfused the WBCs only have a life expectancy of a few weeks. So unless someone committed a crime within weeks of a massive whole blood transfusion it simply isn't an issue. The odds of anyone who receives a massive whole blood transfusion being able to commit a crime is very slim to say the least.

In the ridiculously improbable scenario that someone does commit a crime AND cuts themselves AFTER a massive whole blood transfusion you are still in the clear. The blood will contain genetic material form you and him and several other donors. That will not produce a positive match for your DNA. At worst it will indicate that you and at least three other people were all there bleeding in the same spot at the same time, which nobody will believe given the blood spatter pattern.

Relax, it's just not an issue.

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They just try on a blood soaked glove that has shrunk up and it does not matter anyway!!. seriously your DNA would not be present after a short time. think of it logically.. your blood is dying off everyday and you only take a pint or 2!! Don't stop going to the red cross,, but good ??

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If the crime was done noy long after they'd received the infusion and if your blood was in among what was spilt, then they would realise that there were two DNA strands (different markers) present and would start chasing the local hospitals for info on those who had received blood transfusions.

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RBCs don't have nucleus, and nucleus is the host for DNA.so if you simply donate your blood, you are not passing your DNA to the recipient.

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Well, let's put it this way. As someone mentioned before, red blood cells contain no nucli, ribosomes or mitochondria (all things that contain DNA) which also explains their short lifespan of only about 120 days. If someone needed a transfusion of enough of your blood where it would even be traceable as yours, they're not getting out of bed that fast. As for your white blood cells - the things that actually carry a nucleus and all that other fun stuff, they have an even shorter life span - only about 2-3 days. Thus, by the time the recipient is healthy enough to leave a hospital or a bed and commit a crime, your DNA will be long flushed out of that person's system. Hope this helps.

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