| abstract |
A process of identifying a plurality of biological samples having particular desired attributes by testing pooled samples and selecting, for intended uses such as transfusion, or for subsequent analysis that is thereby enriched for such samples, pooled samples which have, or may have, said desired attributes. The preferred number of samples per pool “d” is determined by selecting an integer value as d which produces the maximum or a value near the maximum of the product of: d times the expected number of unambiguous sample pools, where a sample pool is unambiguous if all of the samples have the desired attributes, and is otherwise ambiguous if at least one sample has the desired attributes. The value selected as d can be greater than the maximum product above, so as to enlarge the total number of samples assayed in determining the desired attributes. |