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Negative control

Definition

A blank or known-negative sample run to check for false-positive signals from reagent contamination or cross-reaction. A failing negative control indicates contamination or reagent non-specificity.

Related terms

Accreditation
Third-party attestation that a laboratory is competent to perform specific tests or measurements, based on assessment against a recognised standard. Accreditation is...
ISO/IEC 17025
The international standard (2017 edition) for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories, covering management requirements (impartiality, document control, complaints) and technical...
OSAC
Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Forensic Science: established by NIST and DOJ in 2014, it develops consensus forensic standards through structured...
Positive control
A sample of known positive composition run in parallel with casework samples to verify that the test system is capable of detecting...
Proficiency test
A blind or semi-blind comparison exercise in which an examiner or laboratory analyses a set of test prints of known ground truth;...

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