Good Blood: A Doctor, a Donor, and the Incredible Breakthrough That Saved Millions of Babies

Journalist Guthrie (How to Make a Spaceship) chronicles the joint efforts of the Australian blood donor and the doctor who helped to solve the mystery of Rh disease in the 1960s. The illness occurs when a baby inherits the Rh antigen from its father and the mother’s blood is Rh negative. The mother’s antibodies destroy the baby’s red blood cells, causing anemia and miscarriage. Tens of thousands of babies succumbed to the disease each year until Australian doctor John Gorman, then a pathology resident at New York’s Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, and his colleagues had the idea to inject Rh-negative mothers, shortly before and after delivery, with a passive form of the same antibody they would naturally produce in reaction to their baby’s blood, in order to inhibit their immune response. Meanwhile, James Harrison, who had undergone a major chest surgery at age 14 that required a massive transfusion of blood, had been donating blood in Sydney for years. As a result of the transfusion, Harrison had developed 10 times more of the required antibodies than the average donor of his blood type, and his blood plasma soon became a key factor in the success of Gorman’s treatment. By donating his blood for more than 60 years, Guthrie writes, Harrison saved millions of lives. Though deep dives into technical matters may trip up lay readers, Guthrie vividly captures the determination and commitment of her two main subjects. This is an inspiring and heartwarming story of a medical breakthrough. (Sept.)