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Actually, testing all samples is quite inefficient : blood tests are quite expensive. They simply mix a large quantity of samples together, and test the result. The downside is having to trash the large amount of blood if the test is positive. That's why they use statistically relevant information in deciding who donates blood. Of course, quite often the prejudices of the doctor or of the agency get in the way.

Auferre, trucidare, rapere, falsis nominibus imperium; atque, ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.
by linca (antonin POINT lucas AROBASE gmail.com) on Tue May 20th, 2008 at 03:43:07 AM EST
[ Parent ]
You know as well as I do that to find a tainted sample among n takes only O(log(n)) tests...

When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue May 20th, 2008 at 02:56:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I'm not an industry specialist, but I had understood that the samples were already actually mixed...

Auferre, trucidare, rapere, falsis nominibus imperium; atque, ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.
by linca (antonin POINT lucas AROBASE gmail.com) on Wed May 21st, 2008 at 05:06:39 AM EST
[ Parent ]

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