New Fetal DNA Study in JAMA Substantiates Technology – DDC

As reported by front-page stories in The New York Times, LA Times, USA Today and other major news sources, a gender study published by the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) details a new technology used in determining the gender of a baby by detecting DNA from the fetus that floats freely in a pregnant woman’s blood. The exciting technology referenced in the report is similar to the innovative technology DDC offers as the first non-invasive Prenatal Paternity Test using SNP Microarray Technology.
The Science
The test to determine gender noted in the JAMA study is a simple version of the testing technology utilized by DDC, analyzing just one chromosome. The DDC® Non-Invasive Prenatal Paternity Test uses the same technology to analyze all 46 chromosomes.
Unlike traditional prenatal paternity testing, which uses a fetal sample obtained by an OB-GYN through amniocentesis or CVS sampling, the non-invasive test only uses the mother’s blood to detect free-floating DNA from the baby. This DNA is then compared with the DNA from an alleged father’s blood.
The test uses state-of-the art DNA technology called SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism), which can detect the relatively low levels of fetal DNA found in maternal blood. The amount of baby’s DNA present in maternal blood increases with gestational age, and DDC recommends that this test be performed when the mother is at least 12 weeks pregnant—the further along in the pregnancy, the greater the chances for an informative and conclusive result.
The DDC® Non-Invasive Prenatal Paternity Test is the only prenatal test that uses Microarray SNP technology to analyze 317,000 SNP genetic markers, where other non-invasive paternity tests look at 8 to 20  markers.
Reliability
With the DDC® Non-Invasive Prenatal Paternity Test, a previous pregnancy does not interfere with the test results. It has been known for several years that circulating cell-free fetal DNA (ccfDNA) is present in a pregnant mother’s blood. It has also been shown that after giving birth, the cell-free circulating DNA is cleared from the mother’s system within a few hours. Thus, there is no chance that the DNA from the fetus of a previous pregnancy can interfere with the test.
Because the prenatal paternity test is non-invasive, it is 100% safe, 99.9% accurate, with test results available in a little as five days after all samples are received. Prior to this test, prenatal paternity testing included invasive methods to obtain a suitable fetal sample by Amniocentesis or CVS (Chorionic Villus Sample). Both of these invasive methods run a risk of miscarriage.
Additional Opportunities
As noted in various newspapers, this new technology is a breakthrough in science, and is the technology that doctors will begin using to predetermine birth defects and whether or not someone is predisposed to any diseases.
For more information about prenatal paternity testing, visit www.dnacenter.com or call us at 1-800-613-5768.