Down's syndrome causes mental retardation and other problems. Is caused when a child has three copies of the chromosome 21, instead of the normal two.
In two or three years it will be possible to know if an unborn baby has the Down’s syndrome or not. It will be possible to realize them a prenatal blood test and if it’s successful it would eliminate the risk to the foetus.
The test also detects other chromosomal or lethal conditions like Edwards and Patau syndrome.
Researchers led by Stephan Quake took a blood sample from mothers to do the test, because they wanted to see if they had extra chromosomes in their DNA.
Most women decide to terminate their pregnancy when they know their foetus has that disease, but others decide to continue with it, like Sarah Plain.
Until now, all pregnancy tests have been invasive: with amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling. This one is the first non-invasive test for the Down’s syndrome, but it’s only a “prediction”.
The invasive tests are done after the 15th week of pregnancy, but they carry some risks (1%) of a compulsory miscarriage or defects. Those tests are practiced to 35 year old women because they’re more prone to have Down’s syndrome babies. After that, other companies will try to produce non-invasive tests.
In two or three years it will be possible to know if an unborn baby has the Down’s syndrome or not. It will be possible to realize them a prenatal blood test and if it’s successful it would eliminate the risk to the foetus.
The test also detects other chromosomal or lethal conditions like Edwards and Patau syndrome.
Researchers led by Stephan Quake took a blood sample from mothers to do the test, because they wanted to see if they had extra chromosomes in their DNA.
Most women decide to terminate their pregnancy when they know their foetus has that disease, but others decide to continue with it, like Sarah Plain.
Until now, all pregnancy tests have been invasive: with amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling. This one is the first non-invasive test for the Down’s syndrome, but it’s only a “prediction”.
The invasive tests are done after the 15th week of pregnancy, but they carry some risks (1%) of a compulsory miscarriage or defects. Those tests are practiced to 35 year old women because they’re more prone to have Down’s syndrome babies. After that, other companies will try to produce non-invasive tests.
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