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Treating trisomies: Prenatal Down's syndrome therapies explored in mice

Nature Medicine volume 22, pages 6–7 (2016)Cite this article

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Routine, noninvasive prenatal screening tests are allowing many women to learn early in the course of pregnancy whether their fetuses are affected by Down's syndrome, a condition that affects about 1 in 700 children born in the US. The prenatal screening results, which are confirmed with further diagnostic tests such as an amniocentesis, often lead pregnant women to question what they can do.

Right now, Bianchi and her colleagues have no prenatal treatments to offer these women. But they think that growing insights about how trisomy 21 shapes brain development have opened up the possibility of one day turning a prenatal diagnosis into an opportunity for treatment. Studies in mice with a Down's syndrome–like condition have already shown that prenatal treatments can improve learning and memory, although substantial hurdles remain.

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  1. Bridget M. Kuehn is a Chicago-based freelance writer specializing in biomedicine.,

    Bridget M. Kuehn

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Kuehn, B. Treating trisomies: Prenatal Down's syndrome therapies explored in mice. Nat Med 22, 6–7 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0116-6

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