Maternal Blood Test Might Spot Birth Defects More Safely, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Study

In what a team of scientists says is a first, the researchers appear to have successfully screened for a rare form of fetal abnormality by means of a completely noninvasive blood test. By performing a DNA analysis on a blood sample from a prospective mother, the team was able to accurately identify a specific chromosomal irregularity called "fetal microdeletion syndrome" in the unborn child, reported investigators at the Magee-Womens Research Institute (MWRI) at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.