Using the technique of allele-specific priming of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), the C-T substitution in codon 39 was identified as the cause of beta-thalassaemia in an Irish family. Analysis of the restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) in the beta-globin gene cluster established linkage of the beta-thalassaemia mutation to a particular beta-haplotype but indicated that a recombinational event had occurred in the paternal chromosome in the younger of two affected children. Non-paternity was excluded by DNA fingerprinting analysis with hypervariable minisatellite probes. This is the fourth case of recombination in the beta-globin gene cluster to be reported. The event has occurred 5' of the polymorphic RsaI site at position -550 bp upstream of the beta-globin gene mRNA Cap site, within the 9.1-kb region that has been shown to be a hot spot for recombination in the beta-globin gene cluster.