Blood test spots rare anomalies in fetuses

• Autores: Alice Klein
• Localización: New scientist, ISSN 0262-4079, Nº. 3135, 2017, pág. 8
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • A blood test can scan a fetus's entire genome for chromosomal abnormalities at 10 weeks of pregnancy. The test may help identify pregnancies in need of closer monitoring, or those at a higher risk of miscarriage or complications. Chromosomal abnormalities occur in around 1 in 1000 births. The most common are Down's syndrome. Edwards' syndrome and Patau syndrome, which are caused by carrying an extra copy of a chromosome. These can all be detected by the form of non-invasive pre-natal testing (NIPT) currently offered by private clinics. NIPT works by detecting fetal DNA fragments in maternal blood