PRENATAL DIAGNOSIS BY ISOLATION OF FETAL GRANULOCYTES FROM MATERNAL BLOOD

摘要

A method for detecting presence or absence of a nucleic acid of interest in fetal nucleic acid derived from a sample of peripheral blood obtained from a pregnant woman is described. The method involves obtaining a sample of peripheral blood from a pregnant woman, treating the sample of peripheral blood such that fetal nucleic acid present in fetal granulocytes is made available for detection and detecting presence or absence of a nucleic acid of interest in the available fetal nucleic acid. The proportion of fetal granulocytes present in the sample of peripheral blood can be increased relative to the sample of peripheral blood forming a sample enriched in fetal granulocytes prior to the detection step. The nucleic acid of interest can be detected by treating the peripheral blood sample such that fetal granulocyte nucleic acid present in the sample is made available for hybridization with a nucleic acid probe and subsequently contacting the available fetal nucleic acid with a nucleic acid probe hybridizable to a nucleic acid of interest under hybridization conditions. The presence or absence of hybridization between the nucleic acid probe and the nucleic acid of interest is detected as an indication of the presence or absence of the nucleic acid of interest in the fetal nucleic acid.