Syracuse (WSYR-TV) – Researchers say they have mapped the genome of a baby in the womb and the noninvasive procedure may one day allow women to test their unborn babies for more than 3,500 genetic disorders.
Researchers took blood samples of a woman who was 18 weeks pregnant, then saliva from her partner, and mapped the fetus’s DNA.
The procedure is not expected to have an immediate impact on genetic testing during pregnancy, a less costly and more accurate version of the test needs to be developed, but eventually it could replace amniocentesis, which carries a risk of miscarriage.
