GLIF was a huge success at this year’s 2019 Monash University Open Day for prospective students.
GLIF, which stands for Group Legible Immunohaematological Format, is a hand-held device that can determine one’s ABO blood type from only a drop of blood. Glif is a paradigm shift in blood group serology requiring no external elements to perform a rapid, reliable and self-interpreting ABO.
The GLIF team, Professor Gil Garnier, Research Officer Heather McLiesh and Dr Whui Lyn, showed off the potential of this revolutionary product, testing hundreds of visitors throughout the day. The word must’ve spread across the University as a nurse even came by “test the test”. With the queue not subsiding until 10 minutes after the Open Day had finished, it proved to be very popular indeed.
There were a couple of people who were not so keen on the sight of blood, and unfortunately didn’t realise this until they saw the blood physically and became dizzy. Fortunately, it wasn’t their blood being taken! Many people videoed the test as their red cells were taking the shape of their own blood group. A selection of red lollies was available for those who had given a drop of their blood to recoup their energy. Once a sweet was had, volunteers were asked to put their name, blood type and ethnicity into the computer. This information generated graphs to display the spread of different ABO blood types for the different ethnicities. As expected, the majority of people who came were either O pos or A pos and no Rh negatives were detected from either the Chinese or the Indian communities. The odd person who had O negative blood was advised of the unique qualities of their blood and the benefits of donating blood to the likes of the Red Cross. Each participant was able to receive a sticker with the words “OMG I’m [handwritten blood type here]” to show off around campus, and a computer was set up to collect blood types. Haemokinesis is currently in the process of bringing the GLIF test to the market. Dr Whui Lyn, Professor Gil Garnier and Heather McLiesh pictured below at BioPRIA, Monash University.
