A pioneering blood test that could allow pregenant women know the sex of their unborn child as early as five weeks has been developed,but Scientists have warned that it has the potential for promoting sex-selection. A team led by Dr.Hyun Mee Ryu at Chell General Hospital in Seoul , South Korea , Found that various ratios of two enzymes which can be extracted from a pregenant mother's blood indicate the baby's gender as early as five or six weeks .
Knowing the sex early , the scientists said,is important if the mother is a carrier of an X-chromosome gene that can cause a discease like muscular dystrophy or haemophilia. They said that the female fetuses are either free from the discease or are carriers , but a male has 50% chances of inheriting the discease and parents may choose to abort the pregnancy.
However this method "might promote the potential for sex selection. Therefore there should be careful consideration about the use of this analytical tool in clinical situations ", the scientists warned .
Current ultrasounds can detect a baby's sex at around five months , while available invasive testing can work at 11 weeks, but these tests carry a one to two percent risk of miscarriage as the require a sample from the amniotic sac that protects the foetus.
Writing in the FASEB journal , Dr Hyu said their test could "reduce the need for invasive procedures in pregnant women carrying an X-linked chromosomal abnormality and clarify inconclusive readings by ultrasound.
for their study the team collected maternal plasma from 203 women during the first trimester of their pregenancies between 2008 & 2009 and were accurately detect the gender of the baby from as early as five weeks by measuring the ratio of the amount of the enzymes ---- DYS14 and GAPDH in the blood plasma.
The test if made available at a later stages should be strongly regulated on ethical grounds as such tests if freely available in the market ,could promote sex selection and further worsen the already SKEWED sex ratio of girls is to boys.