Diagnosis of beta-thalassaemia by DNA amplification in single blastomeres from mouse preimplantation embryos

Mouse preimplantation embryos were accurately diagnosed as normal or mutant at the beta-major haemoglobin locus by amplification of specific DNA sequences in a single cell. A DNA sequence containing the whole of exon 3 and some 3' untranslated sequences within the beta-major haemoglobin gene was amplified in single blastomeres by means of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Blastomeres were removed from embryos of four to eight cells from normal BALB/c mice and from mutant (thalassaemic) BALB/c mice homozygous for a deletion of the whole beta-major haemoglobin gene. The sensitivity of the amplification procedure was enhanced by the sequential use of two sets of oligonucleotide primers for 30 cycles of amplification each, the second pair being located within the segment amplified by the first pair. The product (204 base-pairs) could be easily visualised in ethidium bromide-stained agarose gels. Stringent precautions to prevent contamination were taken, and with these precautions the PCR amplification procedure could be carried out under normal laboratory conditions. These procedures for diagnosis of genetic disease before implantation should be applicable to preimplantation diagnosis of any monogenic disorder in man for which the affected DNA sequence is known.