Safer Genetic Test Checks Pregnant Women For Down Syndrome

Washington (dbTechno) - Researchers have been able to discover a much safer method to diagnose  Down syndrome, via a genetic test they perform on blood taken from pregnant women.

Researchers from Stanford University, as well as the Howard Hughes Medical Institute made the discovery.

The new blood test was used on 18 women at the Prenatal Diagnostic CEnter at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital.

Researchers were able to diagnose 9 cases of Down syndrome successfully with the test, as well as  2 cases of another disorder in a total of 18 women

They used a method known as gene-sequencing to look closely at the DNA in the mother’s blood.

From the blood, they were able to state whether or not Down syndrome was present.

Current prenatal tests used by doctors are quite risky for both the pregnant mother, and unborn baby.

They increase the risk of both infection, as well as miscarriage as they extract fluid from the uterus.

By using this new blood test though, that risk of miscarriage and infection is virtually gone.

Their study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.