Ohama K. Successful diagnosis of fetal gender using conventional PCR analysis of maternal serum. Clin Chem

plasma and serum. Diagnosis of fetal gender using maternal plasma and serum has been attempted in an effort to develop a new noninvasive method of prenatal diagnosis. Methods: Peripheral blood samples were obtained from 61 pregnant women at 10–17 weeks of gestation before amniocentesis. DNA was extracted from 800 mL of each plasma or serum sample. To detect the Y-chromosome-specific sequences DYS14 and DYZ3 in the maternal plasma and serum, 40 cycles of PCR were carried out for each DNA extract. The PCR products were analyzed by 2.5 % agarose gel electrophoresis and ethidium bromide staining, and the results were compared with the results of the cytogenetic analyses of amniocentesis. Results: Cytogenetic analysis of amniocentesis reveale