What does a matching status of Matched or Untested indicate?
During a pilot examination of participants from one AREDS Clinical Center with 2 different specimens drawn, it was found in some cases that the two samples presumed to be from the same participant did not match. To ensure that this labeling error was not more widespread, a second blood sample was obtained from most participants and the DNA fingerprint from both blood samples was compared. A matching status of ‘Matched’ means that this participant had 2 or more different blood specimens whose DNA fingerprints matched. Of the participants with multiple specimens whose DNA fingerprints were compared, 2.9% had specimens that did not match. Specimens that were DNA fingerprinted that did not match were destroyed. A matching status of ‘Untested’ means either 1) no second sample was obtained for this participant so the matching status could not be tested (the majority of cases), or 2) a second sample was obtained for this participant but DNA was not obtained for fingerprinting, however other g
