New Blood Test Developed For Down’s syndrome In Unborn Babies
October 6th, 2008 | by admin |
A new blood test has been developed by scientists to check for the presence of Down’s syndrome in the unborn baby.
Current testing for the presence of the disorder is quite invasive, the total opposite of this new improved DNA blood test.
Down’s syndrome, occurs in a child when they have 3 copies of chromosome 21, instead of the normal 2 copies. It results in the child being mentally retarded, along with having other medical problems.
The blood test, referred to as “shotgun sequencing” correctly identified the presence of Down’s syndrome in 9 of 18 unborn babies whose mothers underwent the test.
The blood test, which only requires a small blood sample from the mother is much safer than the traditional test, an amniocentesis, which works by putting a needle into the mother’s uterus.
Researchers say that it is important to keep studying this blood test in a larger group of women to make sure that the test is actually effective.
The study can be found in the PNAS journal.
