Inability to Clonally Expand Fetal Progenitors from Maternal Blood

OBJECTIVES: To confirm the recent report of the culture of single clones of fetal progenitor cells from maternal blood. METHODS: Hemopoietic progenitor cells were cultured from 16 blood samples obtained from women pregnant with a male singleton fetus. Single colonies were isolated by micro-manipulation and examined by multiplex real-time PCR. RESULTS: Of a total of 1,674 colonies examined, 1,648 were identified as being maternal. No colonies were detected of fetal origin. CONCLUSIONS: The clonal expansion of single fetal colonies from the maternal circulation is not feasible by current methods.