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Tracy Hampton, PhD

JAMA. 2007;298:1751.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Hoping to improve prenatal diagnostic testing by identifying better markers of fetal abnormalities, scientists have generated the most complete list so far of proteins present in human amniotic fluid (Cho CK et al. Mol Cell Proteomics. 2007;6[8]:1406-1415).

"There's a great need for better markers for screening for Down syndrome and other fetal abnormalities," said principal investigator Eleftherios P. Diamandis, MD, PhD, of the Mount Sinai Hospital and the University of Toronto, in Ontario. Many expectant mothers currently receive false-positive or false-negative test results, he noted.

Proteomic profiling of amniotic fluid may reveal markers that are directly related to the fetus but difficult to detect in maternal serum. Once these markers are identified, some may then be assessed in maternal serum after proteins cross the placenta and enter the mother's body.

Hoping to improve prenatal diagnostic tests, researchers have generated the most complete list to date of . . . [Full Text of this Article]

A COMPLEX PROTEOME