Schematic representation of the study design based on a SNP study showing: parental genotypes, the data analysis approach in maternal plasma and the inheritance pattern mimicked.Parental genotyping combination for allele 1/allele 2 of a certain SNP can be used to represent an inheritance pattern for a point mutation. The different parental genotype combinations and their correspondence with a specific inheritance pattern are detailed in the figure. Analysis of exclusive paternal sequences requires a detection approach while the study of maternal genomic regions requires a Relative Mutation Dosage (RMD) analysis. A simulation of an NIPD for a dominant disease with paternal origin can be done using a case in which the mother is homozygous for an SNP and the father is heterozygous (blue background). Presence/absence of the exclusive paternal allele could be associated with a fetal genotype. On the contrary, a heterozygous mother and a homozygous father will mimic a dominant disorder with a maternal origin (red background). This simulation can be also considered for recessive diseases in which both parents are carriers of a different mutation. NIPD for a recessive disease in which both parents are carriers of the same mutation can be simulated by taking as an example a couple in which the mother and the father are heterozygous for an SNP (yellow background). Finally, the simulation of NIPD for X-linked disorders can be done by a case in which mother is heterozygous for a SNP and the father is hemizygous (green background). Fetal Genotyping in Maternal Blood by Digital PCR: Towards NIPD of Monogenic Disorders Independently of Parental Origin. Perlado S, Bustamante-Aragonés A, Donas M, Lorda-Sánchez I, Plaza J, Rodríguez de Alba M - PloS one (2016). Not Altered. CC.
Single gene disorders are caused by DNA changes in one particular gene, that often have predictable inheritance patterns. Examples of single gene disorders include cystic fibrosis, hemochromatosis, Tay-Sachs disease, and sickle cell anemia.