Southern blot test is for detection of: September 2005

Ans. B: DNA Southern blot test, a gene analysis method used to identify specific DNA fragments and in the diagnosis of cancers and inherited blood disorders (hemoglobulinopathies). The DNA fragments are analyzed for changes in the order of antibodies (immunoglobulins) or cell receptor genes, movement of chromosomes, increases in potentially cancer-causing genes (oncogenes), and changes (point mutations) in these genes. Nohern blot test is an immunologic technique for the detection of specific messenger RNAs using complementary DNA. (Called also Nohern transfer) Western blotting is a more specific test as it allows one to visualize antibodies directed against each viral protein. For this reason, it is a confirmatory test for a positive HIV ELISA. ELISA measures antibody to whole virus and gives a "positive," "negative" or indeterminate test result. Eastern blotting is a technique to analyze proteins, lipids, or glycoconjugates, and is most often used to detect carbohydrate epitopes.