(Representational Image)A TEST used to identify ailments such as Hepatitis and AIDS will now help the Maharashtra Police determine whether the meat they have seized is that of a cow. The ‘screening test’ will also reduce the workload of the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), which does a DNA test of all samples seized by the police. Since antibodies are from beef samples, the antigen taken from the sample seized by the police is therefore not beef,” said Kulkarni. “If the colour of the serum changes to yellow, it means that both the antigen and antibodies are beef samples,” he added. Since the ELISA test is a pathology screening test, samples that test positive will be sent to the FSL’s DNA department for confirmation of the results.

Source: Indian Express July 16, 2017 19:41 UTC