The comprehensive review of the biochemical forensic literature by Gaensslen covered much of the subject until about 1908. This review focuses on two aspects of forensic serology and reports on the progress and research in the identification of blood and its species determination during the period 1980 to 1995. The development of ELISA techniques and the explosive developments in DNA technology have and will change the course of forensic science. The usefulness of these and other techniques has been extended to archaeology as well as other disciplines. While borrowing heavily from the forensic literature, these researchers have produced their own literature which, in turn, is of interest to the forensic scientist.