Mendelian error

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In the genetic analysis of families, a Mendelian error describes an allele in a child which could not have been received from any of their biological parents. The possible explanations are multiple and can be due to experimental genotyping errors or to the erroneous assignment of the individuals as relatives. Mendelian error is established by demonstrating the existence of a trait which is inconsistent with every possible combination of genotype compatible with the individual. This method of determination requires pedigree checking, however, and establishing a contradiction between phenotype and pedigree is an NP-complete problem. Genetic inconsistencies which do not correspond to this definition are Non-Mendelian Errors.