Announcing a new non-invasive prenatal diagnosis for Down syndrome, Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics (CING) said that this new method referred to a maternal DNA blood test during pregnancy which was much safer and effective.

Dr. Phillipos Patsalis, Chief Executive Medical Director of CING, said that this method uses a small amount of blood from the pregnant women whereas in current invasive methods prenatal diagnosis such as chorionic villus sampling was used.

With a considerable risk of fetal loss, this study involved collecting blood from 80 pregnant women, of which 34 were carrying a fetus with Down syndrome and 46 pregnancies were carrying a fetus with normal constitution.

He said, “The new method can be offered to all pregnant women, it provides effective prevention of Down Syndrome, the application is relatively simple, the cost is affordable and even cheaper than the current methods used and the results can be obtained within 4-5 days”.

Talking about the widespread implications for the incidence of Down syndrome, Dr. Brian Skotko, Clinical Fellow in genetics at Children's Hospital Boston and a Spokesman for the National Down Syndrome Society, said that the overwhelming majority of family members said they could not imagine their life without their family member with Down syndrome.