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Blood group system

Definition

A set of red cell surface antigens encoded by one gene locus or by two tightly linked loci. The International Society of Blood Transfusion recognises more than 40 systems; the MNS, Kell, Kidd, and Duffy systems were the most used in forensic serology.

Related terms

Absorption-elution
A technique for detecting antigens on dried red cell debris. Specific antiserum is absorbed onto the stain; if the antigen is present,...
Antiserum
Serum collected from an immunised animal containing antibodies directed against a specific antigen or group of antigens. In species identification, antiserum raised...
Linkage disequilibrium
The non-random association of alleles at different loci within a population. Certain HLA allele combinations (e.g., HLA-A1 with HLA-B8 with HLA-DR3) occur...
Phenotype frequency
The proportion of a given population that expresses a particular antigen combination. Multiplying phenotype frequencies across independent loci gives the combined frequency...
Probability of exclusion
The proportion of the population whose blood type differs from that of the stain and who would therefore be excluded as its...

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