DNA extraction from archived Giemsa-stained blood smears using polymerase chain reaction to detect host and parasitic DNA.

The ability to extract viable deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) from archived Giemsa-stained blood smears can be useful to validate pathogen presence using polymerase chain reaction assays. In this study, 76 crab blood smears from years 1988 to 2004 were tested. Blood smear material was removed from slides, after which DNA was extracted and polymerase chain reaction amplified using primer sets for four loci designed to amplify host and parasitic DNA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]