K. Kobayashi, E. Tsuchida,
H. Horinouchi (Eds.)

2005

Its Front Line

Our understanding of blood has changed considerably since the Middle Ages, when it was regarded with a mixture of fear and superstition. The first successful human transfusion was done by James Blundell in 1818, and in the last century, since Karl Landsteiner discovered blood types, transfusion medicine has evolved to become one of the most important therapeutic modalities today, changing medical practice along the way.