How John Gorman’s Anti-D Discovery Saved Millions of Babies — And Why Scientists Are Reinventing It
How John Gorman’s Anti-D Discovery Saved Millions of Babies — And Why Scientists Are Reinventing It ⏱ In 30 Seconds ✓ Australian physician Dr John Gorman helped develop anti-D immunoglobulin, transforming the prevention of Rh disease and helping save millions of babies. ✓ Before anti-D became available, Gorman recalled that around 10% of neonatal deaths in Melbourne were caused by Rh disease. ✓ Anti-D reveals an extraordinary paradox: the same type of antibody that can destroy an RhD-positive baby's red blood cells can also prevent the immune response that causes the disease. ✓ More than 60 years later, Professor Ian Wicks, Dr Behnaz Heydarchi and researchers at WEHI and Australian Red Cross Lifeblood are developing a recombinant anti-RhD antibody that could reduce dependence on rare human plasma donors. The Story Hidden Inside a Routine Injection For most pregnant women in Australia today, discovering that they are RhD negative is unlikely to cause much alarm. ...