Prenatal Diagnosis - Research Article from Macmillan Science Library: Genetics

This encyclopedia article consists of approximately 8 pages of information about Prenatal Diagnosis.

Prenatal Diagnosis - Research Article from Macmillan Science Library: Genetics

This encyclopedia article consists of approximately 8 pages of information about Prenatal Diagnosis.
This section contains 2,262 words
(approx. 8 pages at 300 words per page)
Buy the Prenatal Diagnosis Encyclopedia Article

The future health of a new individual can be predicted, to an extent, from clues that are apparent before birth. Prenatal diagnosis is the identification of a medical condition in a developing embryo or fetus. Prenatal testing can sample fetal cells to examine DNA sequences that correspond to specific disease-causing genes or chromosomes (the structures that carry the genes). Biochemicals obtained with the fetal cell samples can also hold clues to health. Other prenatal tests analyze a pregnant woman's blood serum for telltale biochemicals that indicate the fetus faces an elevated risk of a particular condition. Ultrasound scans provide views of many aspects of fetal anatomy. Preimplantation genetic diagnosis is a technique that is actually pre-prenatal. It provides a health check on very early embryos grown in a laboratory dish, enabling parents to select those that are most likely to develop into healthy infants.

Because prenatal...

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This section contains 2,262 words
(approx. 8 pages at 300 words per page)
Buy the Prenatal Diagnosis Encyclopedia Article
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Prenatal Diagnosis from Macmillan. Copyright © 2001-2006 by Macmillan Reference USA, an imprint of the Gale Group. All rights reserved.