ABO Typing In Forensic Analysis: to be or not to be in the epoch of genotyping

Increasing crime rate, in the modern era, has prompted the scientists to develop fast and effective forensic strategies to distinguish between guilty and innocent. Since ages, investigators have relied on ABO typing which was the only method available mostly to exclude the innocent from the suspect list, though most of the ABO-typing methods are low throughput and time consuming. Moreover, as the aim of every investigation is to establish the identity of the offender, the ABO typing methods, being used, even if done properly, were proven to be non-beneficial to single out the perpetrator and thus futile in the court of law. Due to lack of accuracy, specificity, conclusiveness and availability of sample, ABO typing is fast being replaced by genotyping, which is a more suitable method to convict the offender. The pros and cons of different ABO-typing methods and the usefulness of genotyping techniques in this context have been discussed here. In spite of being overshadowed by genotyping, ABO typing is still being used as a tool in forensic science in developing countries because of its cost-effectiveness. However, it is concluded that the potential challenge for forensic investigators to identify suspects possibly poses a future, where genotyping will be the ultimate tool and ABO typing may become obsolete.