SCIENCE IN THE NEWS DAILY
Genome of 18-Week-Old Foetus Deciphered
from BBC News Online
A blood sample from mum and saliva from dad have been used to sequence the genome of a foetus in the womb, by US researchers. At the time, the mother was just 18 weeks into the pregnancy.
The doctors said the findings, reported in Science Translational Medicine, could eventually lead to foetuses being screened for thousands of genetic disorders in a single and safe test. However, they also caution it would raise "many ethical questions."
The scientists at the University of Washington used pieces of the foetus' DNA which naturally float around in the pregnant woman's blood. These fragments were then pieced together using the parents' DNA as a guide to build a complete 'map' of the foetus's genome. They then compared the genetic map drawn 18 weeks into pregnancy with the foetus' actual DNA taken from the umbilical cord after birth. It was 98% accurate.
Read more...
Science in the Media
Newspapers:
Magazines and Web Sites:
The Science-Media Intersection:
Sign Up
... for Sigma Xi SmartBrief, a free daily summary of the latest news in scientific research, delivered straight to your in-box. Each story is summarized concisely and linked directly to the original source for further reading.
Click here to subscribe.
Subscribe to Our Content!
Visit our RSS Feeds page to choose among 13 customized feeds, or create a free My AmSci account to request an email notice whenever a specified author, department or discipline appears online.
Sending...
Your email has been sent