Lancet

A non-invasive test for prenatal diagnosis based on fetal DNA present in maternal blood: a preliminary study

Use of free fetal DNA to diagnose fetal chromosomal abnormalities has been hindered by the inability to distinguish fetal DNA from maternal DNA. Our aim was to establish whether single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) can be used to distinguish fetal DNA from maternal DNA—and to determine the number of fetal chromosomes—in maternal blood samples…