Serological Testing
Almost 40 years after the discovery of the major blood types, Karl Landsteiner and Alexander S. Wiener discovered the
Rh blood system
in 1937. The Rh system, named
after the Rhesus monkeys being studied, is composed of two basic types: Rh positive (Rh+) and Rh negative (Rh-). These types are based on the
presence or absence, respectively, of specific
antigens
.
Like the inheritance of blood types, the absence or presence of the Rh antigen in parents' blood determines the Rh blood type of the child.
For instance, it is possible for an Rh- mother to give birth to an Rh+ child if the child's biological father is Rh+.
Along with the Rh system, other serological tests have been used for determining paternity, especially tests for the inheritance of Kell and Duffy
antigens.
Ultimately though, these serological tests only produce a slight increase in accuracy when combined with blood typing for paternity testing.
Their combined power of exclusion is only 40%; therefore they are not a reliable source for paternity identification.
(1900s) Blood Typing
(1930s) Serological Testing
(1970s) HLA Typing
(1980s and 1990s) RFLP Technique
(1990s) PCR Technique
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