Association for Biology Laboratory Education

Determining Human Blood Type by Non-Invasive Methods
 

Michael P. Martin & Stephen M. Detzel

Tested Studies in Laboratory Teaching, 2008, Volume 29

Abstract

When teaching co-dominance in my genetics course, I discovered only 1 in 3 students knew their ABO blood type. This lab exercise allows students to determine their ABO blood type without drawing blood. Students isolate DNA from cells present in saliva and use this DNA as a template for PCR. Subsequently, the PCR products are digested to test for the identity of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that indicate the presence of a particular allele. This method can differentiate among the most common alleles: A1, A1v/A2, B, O1, and O2.

Keywords:  PCR, ABO, recombinant DNA technology, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)

University of Kentucky (2007)