Danish researchers from the State Serum Institute (SSI) have launched an ambitious project to investigate the possibilities of predicting the timing of a woman’s birth using blood tests. The project, known as “Biological Signals in Pregnancy,” has collected 6000 blood samples from 240 pregnant women, each of whom has provided 25 blood samples from week 12 up until birth. The researchers aim to identify specific genes and proteins that play a critical role in the successful completion of a healthy pregnancy. By understanding these biological processes, they hope to explain why some women give birth prematurely or overdue, which often requires medical intervention to induce labor.
Heather Boyd, a senior researcher at SSI, explains that earlier phases of the project have shown significant differences in the substances that can be measured in the blood at different times during pregnancy. These differences could potentially be used to estimate how far along a woman is in her pregnancy, which could be particularly useful in parts of the world where ultrasound scans are not routinely performed in the first trimester of pregnancy. “Our results could eventually revolutionize the way healthcare professionals determine the length of pregnancy, simply by analyzing a single blood sample,” says Boyd.
This could be a breakthrough, especially in areas with limited resources, where precise knowledge of the duration of pregnancy can be difficult to obtain. The project was initiated before the COVID-19 pandemic and was temporarily put on hold during the epidemic. It has now been resumed with new resources and a new project leader, who will be responsible for analyzing the collected blood samples. It has not yet been announced when the researchers expect to have the results ready.”