DNA in a pregnant woman's blood can reliably show whether her foetus has Down's syndrome, thus hugely reducing the need for invasive test procedures such as amniocentesis, research published on Tuesday said.Down's syndrome, a major developmental disorder also called trisomy 21, occurs in around one in every 800 live births.Pre-natal diagnosis mainly entails sampling fluid, drawn by a needle, from the amniotic sac enveloping the foetus. Another technique is called chorionic villus sampling, and entails taking a sample of placenta.
By Andy Batts:CONMED Corporation (CNMD) is a manufacturer and marketer of thousands of products across the global healthcare continuum. It offers products in the clinical areas of gastroenterology, orthopedics, sports medicine, laparoscopy, pulmonary and cardiac care, and advanced patient monitoring.
A test designed to spot chromosome abnormalities in eggs could be a "revolution" in fertility, helping older women determine their chances of having an IVF baby, doctors said on Monday.But in developing the test, they added, worrying evidence emerged that in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) may boost the risk of a baby with Down's syndrome.
Technology is making it easier to monitor patients closely with completely non-invasive medical procedures that were once necessary. Pulse oximetry, a non-invasive method developed and commercialized in the U.S. in the late 1980s, is now widely used to monitor of the saturation of a patient's hemoglobin by placing sensors on a thin part of the patient's body, such as a finger or a earlobe.
Scientists believe they are a step closer to "switching off" a chromosome that causes Down’s syndrome. Researchers claim they have shown in principle that a natural "off switch" – usually used to decide the sex of a baby – could be used to neutralize the extra chromosome behind trisomy 21, better known as Down’s.
CALGARY — Alberta Health Minister Fred Horne says a Calgary fertility clinic’s former policy to restrict patients to using sperm donors who are of the same race highlights the need for clear ethical guidelines as the province moves toward funding invitro fertilization.
“This is a really good example of how when we look at this, these kinds of issues, it’s about a lot more than the money to fund the service,” he said Tuesday.
Prohost Biotech submits:
was welcoming analysts and shareholders who are “interested in discussing
the results for the first quarter of 2011,” the firm’s CEO was quite aware that most attendees were, in fact, much more interested in the progress of the firm’s plans for the non-invasive prenatal tests, especially the Down Syndrome test.