Adelaide University researchers study fetal DNA to improve prenatal testing

An international team of scientists, led by Adelaide University, has published research in Science Advances regarding the movement and packaging of fetal DNA in maternal blood. The study aims to improve the accuracy of non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT), a widely used blood test that screens for genetic conditions by analyzing placental DNA fragments in a pregnant woman’s bloodstream.

While NIPT serves as a safer alternative to invasive procedures like amniocentesis, it currently faces limitations. Lead author Kieran Sparkes noted that approximately 47% of high-risk NIPT results are false alarms, which can lead to unnecessary stress and invasive diagnostic surgeries. By better understanding how fetal DNA is transported and associated with specific structures, researchers hope to develop methods to isolate it more effectively, potentially reducing false results and expanding the range of detectable genetic conditions.