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coilycat t1_j47oo3z wrote

wait, the color of the entire cell would change based on the surface protein?

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Greyswandir t1_j4805j5 wrote

Depending on how you dye/stain the cell, yes. The surface proteins are distributed all across the surface. So if you use a dye which only sticks to those proteins it would color the whole surface of the cell.

There are ways of binding dyes to targeting moeties, like antibodies, that only stick to one type of target. So you could theoretically make different batches with different colors of dyes and bind them to different targeting moeties so only blood cells with that group get stained that color.

There are way, way, way easier and more practical ways to type blood though. So I don’t know that anyone would actually go through the work to do this or what it would accomplish. Just saying this is a way to achieve what the OP asked about and actually see a clear difference under the microscope.

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Norwester77 t1_j47xj2p wrote

If you add a dye of a particular color that sticks to the particular surface protein, yes.

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