A new report on non-invasive prenatal testing

A number of techniques are being investigated internationally to provide a non-invasive diagnostic prenatal test for fetal Down syndrome. News reports have appeared around the world over the last couple of days about a new study of a non-invasive diagnostic (maternal blood) test being developed by a collaboration between a London and Hong Kong based research team. 

The focus of this paper is on the reduction of invasive tests (amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling) and their associated risks that will result from reliable, readily available non-invasive testing.  The researchers do not claim 100% accuracy in diagnosing Down syndrome with their technique yet (it is in the high 90s and will increase), and predict that clinical implementation is some years away.

• British Medical Journal - the research report is available for free download
• Science Daily's news report
• Sydney Morning Herald news report (Agence-France Presse)
• BBC News report (UK)
• DSA UK statement in response 

The ethical implications of such developments have been debated since they first surfaced about three years ago.  You can follow some of the developments through posting in this blog by following the Prenatal Testing and Prenatal Diagnosis tags.