Three decades of reference serology *

Summary. I have tried to show that blood group serology developed rapidly out of necessity and demonstrated a high degree of polymorphism on red cells that was unmatched at that time in man. With new knowledge, these observations have proved to be accurate and informative and correlate well with subsequent biochemical and molecular studies on the antigenic structures, in spite of the fact that they were achieved by relatively simple technology. Serology still has the capacity to focus on points of interest and even to solve problems, albeit in conjunction with other modern and more sophisticated techniques. It provides a good discipline for any scientist to make unbiased and objective studies.