A noninvasive method for determination of the sex and karyotype of the fetus from the maternal blood

The noninvasive method presented, using an “air culturing” technique, is capable of enriching for fetal cells in lymphocyte cultures of maternal blood. Through a combination of Y-body fluorescence and chromosomal heteromorphisms in the maternal blood, the fetal celsl can be detected and used for the prenatal diagnosis of chromosomal abnormalities and the sex of the fetus in both the first and the second halves of pregnancy.