Are DNA Blueprints the Amnios of the Future?
Photo: ThinkstockResearchers at the University of Washington have found a way to virtually map the entire genome of a fetus using a blood sample from mom and a saliva sample from dad. Their findings were published in Science Translational Medicine. This breakthrough might help parents find out the complete DNA blueprint of their unborn child, which could help detect genetic diseases very early. This might be appealing to some because it’s less invasive and risky than an amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling (CVS) test. But knowing about genetic makeup before baby’s born could lead to an ethical debate — some believe couples who know more about baby’s traits might choose abortions when they otherwise wouldn’t.
Scientists say that the DNA sequencing has a 98% accuracy, but it’s not ready for use right now and will pretty pricey to do (around $20,000 to 50,000). Some experts estimate that the procedure could be available in three to five years.
Would you want to find out the DNA Blueprint of your child? Are you getting any genetic testing during pregnancy?
Plus, more from The Bump:
Make Baby Smarter and Healthier Before Conception
What to Expect During an Amnio
The Knot Blog
The Nest Blog
My fiance has Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. It’s a dominant gene so our child with have a 50% chance of getting it. It’d be great to know early on if baby has it. Not for abortions-sake, which I’m completely against, but so that we can know early on and watch for the symptoms. I don’t know if HCM can be developed in utero. It has been found in mothers with type 1 diabetes, but I don’t know if it’s been found in women who have or have a partner with HCM. We’re going to my fiance’s cardiologist in a couple of weeks to see what we need to be aware of.
I had a MaterniT21 PLUS test witch test for the 3 major genetic abnormality chromizones 21,18 & 13. My Lil man had a cyst on his brain and that could be a soft marker for Tresima 18 so we wanted the test to make sure he didn’t have it. I will admit I would have aborted if he had any genetic abnormality like that. I have worked with kids and adults with down syndrome and believe it’s crule to knowingly bring a child into this world that will never be able to live a real life on their own.