PEGASUS: Personalized Genomics for Prenatal Aneuploidy Screening Using Maternal Blood

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Generating solutions

Status

Active

Competition

None

GE3LS

Yes

Project Leader(s)

Fiscal Year Project Launched

2012-2013

Project Description

Every year in Canada, about 10,000 pregnant women undergo  amniocentesis to screen for genetic abnormalities such as Down syndrome. This  procedure represents a non­negligible risk and tragically, 70 healthy fetuses are lost  due to complications from the procedure. Recently, however, scientists have discovered  that fetal DNA present in the mother’s blood can be used to test for genetic  abnormalities, and this through a simple blood test.

Drs. François Rousseau, Sylvie Langlois and team will compare different genomic technologies for their effectiveness to successfully detect genetic abnormalities using the mother’s blood. The goal of the study is to implement the most suitable technology into the Canadian health care system to eventually offer, in the context of standard clinical care, non­invasive prenatal screening to all Canadian women.

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