Blood groups analyses in historical anthropology: Serological versus molecular biological approaches

PARMOVÁ, Klára and Eva DROZDOVÁ. Blood groups analyses in historical anthropology: Serological versus molecular biological approaches. In 18th Congress of The European Anthropological Association. Human Evolution and Dispersals. 2012.

Basic information

• Original name: Blood groups analyses in historical anthropology: Serological versus molecular biological approaches
• Name in Czech: Určování krevních skupin v historické antropologii: Sérologické versus molekulárně biologické přístupy
• Authors: PARMOVÁ, Klára and Eva DROZDOVÁ.
• Edition: 18th Congress of The European Anthropological Association. Human Evolution and Dispersals, 2012.

Other information

• Type of outcome: Conference abstract
• Confidentiality degree: is not subject to a state or trade secret
• Keywords (in Czech): sérologie, molekulární biologie, kostní tkáň, historická antropologie
• Keywords in English: serology, molecular biology, bone tissue, historical anthropology
• Tags: International impact

Abstract

Blood groups are one of the main identification marks in human population. On the basis of the results of these blood properties a lot of information could be obtained (e.g. identification and relationship of the individuals or migration and origin of the population could be outlined). The research of blood groups represents a clear contribution especially for historical and forensic anthropology or archaeology and these analyses are often used such as supporting information. The blood groups are possible to asses from different human tissues such as bones, teeth, hair, nails or soft tissues. The two different methodological approaches – serological and molecular were proposed. The classical one – serology is cost-effective and relatively no time-consuming however there are still great limitations and the results are not concordant in all studied cases. Molecular biology represents a progressive way in research nowadays. Up to now a lot of particular methods were devised including PCR-RFLP, allele specific and miniprimer PCR, real time PCR, than there is a design of specific molecular probes or microarrays etc. Just some of the mention methods are suitable for ancient DNA research. Our goal was to compare these two main approaches for historical human remains from various time period and various level of degradation. Some preliminary results were obtained although the careful interpretation of the results should be takes into consideration. Serology is not suitable for older and depository samples. On the other hand ancient DNA is fragmentary, degraded and it is not easy to handle at all. In both cases lot of precautions have to be observed. Teeth are preferable material because is more consistent and not suffer from degradation a lot. The discussion of these issues and other recommendations for futher research in this scientific field were outlined. In future we would like to optimize the minisequencing method with the use of SnaPshot multiplex kit for our samples. This seems to be very promising improvement for ancient human remains analyses.