For the most part, parents have to wait pretty far along in the pregnancy before they can determine if the room should be pink or blue. While the gender of most babies can be determined as early as 20 weeks, sometimes it can't be determined until later. A new blood test purports to reveal the gender of a developing fetus as early as five weeks.
The new test, was reported in Monday’s edition of the journal "Obstetrics and Gynecology." According to the Dutch researchers, their study, which took place over the course of five years (2003 to 2009), included 201 expectant mothers. Of those women, researchers were able to issue a gender conclusion 189 times. They were correct 100 percent of the time. Even ultrasound determination is occasionally incorrect.
The technique works as follows: blood is drawn from the mothers. DNA from the maternal blood is tested for the presence of SRY (sex-determining region Y gene) found only on the Y chromosome.
According to reports, the researchers began looking for the DYS-14 gene later in the study, as well. Women do not normally possess either of these DNA sequences, so if the researchers found them in the mother’s blood, they concluded that she was carrying a male fetus.
However, while the presence is seemingly absolute, the absence of a Y-type DNA component is not necessarily conclusive. This is why, when possible, the researcher drew paternal blood as well.
The researchers then looked for the presence of slight genetic alterations called "polymorphisms" that were unique to the father. As Dr. Peter Scheffer of Sanquin Research Amsterdam, part of the University of Amsterdam where the study was conducted said, "“A [polymorphism] can only be used as a fetal marker if it is absent from the maternal genome. If it is then found in the maternal plasma, its origin has to be fetal." If polymorphisms matched the father, and there were no Y-linked gene sequences (above), the fetus was determined to be female.
The new earlier testing would create, or rather, increase ethical issues around fetus gender. The earlier the gender of a fetus can be determined, it raises the opportunity for some to abort those who don't match the desired gender. In particular, in certain cultures, a male is much more "desired" than a female.
On the other hand, such early gender determination could mothers as well as female fetuses from certain unnecessary invasive testing. That would occur there is fear of disorders based on gender.
Scheffer believes that since there was 100 percent reliability in his study, the new procedure should be applied around the world now. It's unclear if and when such a global adoption would occur.
Written by Michael Santo
HULIQ.com
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