METHODS FOR CLINICAL DIAGNOSIS

摘要

A method for the identification of foetal cell nuclei, chromosomes or DNA in a maternal blood or vaginal sample, said method comprising: a) subjecting chromosomes of cell nuclei in said sample to exonucleolytic digestion by an enzyme so as to remove end regions of each chromosome; and b) detecting the presence of a DNA sequence remaining in foetal DNA but absent from maternal DNA as a result of said digestion process. Once identified, the foetal DNA can be subject to diagnosis for example to detect chromosomal abnormalities.