Birth defects are mainly regulated by three factors: heredity, environment, and the interaction between heredity and environment. Based on genetic factors, birth defects can be divided into four types of diseases: chromosomal diseases, genomic diseases, monogenic diseases, and polygenic diseases. Chromosomal diseases usually include numerical and structural abnormalities (such as inversion or translocations) of chromosomes. Genomic diseases include microdeletions/microduplicatins (i.e., copy number variations). Monogenic diseases are caused by mutations of a single gene, which can be divided into dominant inheritance, recessive inheritance, and sex-linked inheritance according to the genetic patterns.
Annoroad’s carrier screening product during the peri-conceptional period [Kaiyun’an] includes 18 diseases with high carrier frequencies in the Chinese population: 5 metabolic diseases, 3 diseases with mental retardation, 3 deafness, 3 blood diseases, 2 muscle diseases, 1 endocrine disease, and 1 skin disease. 18 monogenic diseases involve more than 400+ hot spot mutations of 18 genes.