BACs-on-beads: a new robust and rapid detection method for prenatal diagnosis

Karyotyping, the gold standard used for diagnosis of chromosomal abnormalities, is being progressively replaced by rapid aneuploidy testing (RAT) techniques such as quantitative fluorescence-PCR, FISH and multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification for diagnosing the common aneuploidies or chromosomal microarray analysis for comprehensive genome-wide testing. However, due to technical limitations, current RATs are confined to the detection of common aneuploidies 13, 18, 21 and sex chromosomes. To overcome the limitations of RATs, a bacterial artificial chromosomes-on-beads (BoBs™) assay technology has been introduced for the detection of the common aneuploidies as well as specific microdeletion syndromes. The BoBs assay is a bead-based multiplex assay using polystyrene beads impregnated with two spectrally distinct infrared fluorochromes to create a liquid array of up to 100 unique spectral signatures that supports the analysis of that scale of simultaneous hybridization assays on a minute DNA sample. This review gives an overview on the collective experiences of BoBs applications in prenatal diagnosis.