>>> as simple as taking a little blood and a mouth swab to tell you all kinds of things about an unborn baby , including its risk of developing certain diseases. doctors are calling it an exciting immediate break-through. though some warn it could be opening a door to a whole host of ethical dilemmas. we get our report tonight from our chief medical editor, dr. nancy snyderman .
>> there are many things they wonder about.
>> eye color.
>> a new medical break-through could employ answer to those questions and serious genetics disorders. universities mapped the dna of a fetus simply by using a blood sample from a pregnant mother and saliva from the father.
>> tests today, in order to definitively diagnose a genetic disorder prenatally, require the use of an invasive procedure, such as amniocentesis, and so what this test would allow one to do is get to the same information, but not invaseively.
>> reporter: the new test could one day be a routine screening tool for more than 3,000 genetic disorders, including down syndrome, huntington's disease and cystic fibrosis .
>> many of those are treated after the kids are born, and supplementing them inyulter ro, that might improve outcomes.
>> the ability to identify chromosome al abnormalities, some find these advances open the door to a hont of ethical concerns. that's because parents could potentially get information on genetic markers that might increase the risk of heart disease or certain types of cancer.
>> what about hereditary deafness? we can tell you that your fe fuss is going to be born deaf. some might say, i don't want a deaf child. other people will say they're otherwise a normal child. where do we draw the line.
>> this sec nolg is not ready to go next year. as a consequence, i think that kind of buys us some time.
>> reporter: enough time to have conversations about how a screening tool like this, and the information it provides should be used.
>> we need to respect parents' choices, but there may be limits where we say, for screening for homosexuality or intelligence where we may not want to go.
>> reporter: in the meantime, the technology is moving forward with the hope that soon doctors will be able to diagnose and treat a problem before it ever appears. dr. nancy snyderman , nbc news, new york.
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