Sunday, April 12, 2015

'Major Advance' a New Test for Down Syndrome

     A DNA-based blood test has been shown to be more effective in detecting Down syndrome in unborn children, in comparison to other screening methods.  The test called 'Major Advance' was shown to have perfect accuracy in all 38 women whose children inherited the disorder.  Standard screening methods only detected Down syndrome in 30 out of 38 mothers.  The blood test looks for patterns of various substances in the mothers blood that are associated with the chromosomal problems linked to Down syndrome.  Ultrasound examinations should still be conducted to see any indications of birth defects.
     The new clinical trial followed more than 15,000 women with an average age of 31.  It has been found that older women are at a higher risk for birth defects.  The DNA test also had a much lower rate of false-positive results.  Even though there are many positives to this new method, there are some drawbacks. It does not work properly for pregnant women who do not have enough fetal DNA floating in their bloodstream.  Obese women specifically fall into this category of little free floating fetal DNA.  The test can also overlook any other birth defects which traditional screening techniques would normally pick up.
     I feel that this new method could really be the new favorable way of detecting birth defects.  Most mothers do not want a needle in their uterus.  The blood test might be easier and more practical for detecting problems.


Original Article

1 comment:

  1. I agree- this is very important in genetic testing for birth defects. I knew that the risk of having a child with this "disorder" increases with age and so on, but I've never heard of a perfectly accurate test for it.

    ReplyDelete