Current and emerging technology for HLA typing

Many techniques based on polymerase chain reaction amplification have replaced the traditional serological technique in the Histocompatibility laboratory. In some tests the specificity is provided in the PCR amplification whereas in others all alleles will be amplified and the specificity is obtained in a second step. The choice of method will depend on a number of factors including time needed to provide result, resolution required and number of samples being processed. New methods or variations of existing methods are continually being developed. However the cost of equipment makes it difficult for a laboratory to decide on which methods to use.