What is blood serology?
Blood serology is an aspect of biological, medical and forensic sciences that include the study of blood serum, liquid components of blood that does not contain blood cells or clotting. Blood serum contains many antibodies that can be analyzed for scientific, diagnostic or forensic purposes. Antibodies have high -specific structures and the body is produced by the body to face specific threats, so the analysis of antibodies contained in the serum sample can often return valuable information about any infections or diseases that an individual may have. Some aspects of blood serum are unique for each person, so serum analysis can also be used to connect the individual to the scene of the crime if forensic evidence is available. The term "blood serology" can be used to describe the studies of serum blood or practice serum analysis for a particular purpose.
Blood serology is generally relatively simple and painless. A medical expert draws a small amount blood from a vein and collects it in a tube or bottleITS. Blood is allowed to remove the coagulation factors and the liquid serum is separated from the blood cells. The serum is then analyzed on the content of antibodies. The presence of a significant amount of a given antibody may indicate the presence of an infection or disorder.
There are many other information that can be detected by the blood serology test. For example, blood serology can be used to determine an individual's blood type. It can also be used to diagnose several autoimmune conditions. The presence of antibodies that focus on proteins or foreign proteins of an individual may indicate an autoimmune disorder or a rejected blood transfusion. Problems with immune deficiency in which individuals lack certain necessary antibodies can also be detected by tests of blood serology.
Blood serology is commonly used in forensic science as a large amount of information can be obtained from relativa small sample of blood. It is necessary to ensure that the blood sample is not contaminated to prevent inaccurate results. Forensic scientist can determine whether a blood sample comes from a person, determines the sex of an individual who has lost blood, and prepares an antibody and protein profile of blood. This profile can be checked against suspicious or victims and can be used to connect a suspect or victim with a particular act or weapon.