Patent ID: 11932907
Assignee: GATEWAY GENOMICS, LLC
Field: Biotechnology (Chemistry)
Classification: CPC C | IPC C

Claim 0:
1. A method of improving the accuracy of fetal sex determination by reducing a level of contaminating DNA in a blood sample from a pregnant human subject, the method comprising:
a.) obtaining a 100-750 μl capillary blood sample that was collected from the upper arm of the human subject into a tube using a push-button blood collection device, thereby reducing a level of contaminating DNA from a non-maternal and non-fetal source in the capillary blood sample as compared to a blood sample from the subject collected from a site on the finger or hand of the subject;
b.) separating plasma from the capillary blood sample;
c.) isolating cell-free nucleic acids from the plasma; and
d.) performing PCR on the cell-free nucleic acid to detect the presence or absence of fetal Y-chromosome nucleic acids in the capillary blood sample, thereby determining the sex of the fetus.