New prenatal blood tests for genetic abnormalities such as Down syndrome are reshaping care for expectant mothers, but their rapid rollout has raised fears that poorly understood results could lead to confusion among patients and doctors managing high-risk pregnancies.   Four ... [More]

  A new method of prenatal testing that can detect more genetic problems in a fetus than ever before could be headed toward wider use after encouraging results from a clinical trial, researchers said. The study, which is expected to be published in a peer-reviewed medical journal so... [More]

New tests for genetic screening of unborn babies will not be 100 per cent accurate and may scare parents into believing their children will be born with a disability when they are healthy, Lord Robert Winston warns.   American experts have developed a blood test which they claim could be... [More]

Non-invasive procedure could make prenatal testing easier, but it comes with ethical problems.   Until last week, scrutinizing a fetus's DNA for indications of genetic abnormalities meant tapping into the mother's womb with a needle. Now there's a test that can do it using a small sampl... [More]

A simple blood test that can determine a baby’s sex as early as seven weeks into pregnancy is highly accurate if used correctly, a finding that experts say is likely to lead to more widespread use by parents concerned about gender-linked diseases, those who are merely curious and people ... [More]

Imagine being pregnant and taking a simple blood test that lays bare the DNA of your foetus. And suppose that DNA could reveal not only medical conditions such as Down syndrome, but also things like eye colour and height. And the risk for developing depression or Alzheimer's disease. And the c... [More]

Teenagers should be offered gene tests to see if they are carrying incurable diseases that could be passed on to children, official guidelines say. They would be encouraged to undergo screening which would show up any DNA flaws that determine inherited conditions such as cystic fibrosis and D... [More]

The Human Genetics Commission (HGC), upon the request for advice from the U.K. National Screening Committee, reported that genetic tests for inherited diseases should be made widely available to couples before pregnancy. The report found that “there are no specific social, ethical or ... [More]

Should we pay women to become egg donors to tackle the 'mismatch' between supply and demand? This question was debated last week in an event organised by the Progress Educational Trust in partnership with the Royal Society of Medicine, supported by the National Gamete Donation Trust and the Br... [More]

When a B.C. couple discovered that the fetus their surrogate  mother was carrying was likely to be born with Down syndrome, they  wanted an abortion. The surrogate, however, was determined to take  the pregnancy to term, sparking a disagreement that has raised  thorny ques... [More]