Article: AMNIOCENTESIS FINDS DEFECTS.(Living Today)

Byline: Knight-Ridder Newspapers

The most widely used tool for predicting the condition of a developing human fetus is amniocentesis, a procedure in which amniotic fluid is withdrawn from a woman's uterus to study the cells shed into it by her baby. Scientists first experimented with the procedure more than 30 years ago as a means of determining the gender of a fetus. Its use for predicting birth defects, begun in the early 1970s, has exploded in recent years.

"In 1974, we did 25 (amniocenteses)," said Dr. Paul Benke, a geneticist in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Miami-Mailman Center for Child Development. "Last year, I think we did ...

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