Single Cell Aneuploidy Analysis by High Resolution Comparative Genomic Hybridization (CGH) after Whole Genome Amplification reveals Maternal Cell Contamination in the Original Products of Conception Cultures

Comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) is an alternative molecular cytogenetic technique that can characterize unbalanced and often unrecognizable G-banded cytogenetic material in a one-step global screening procedure. It has the distinct advantage of providing a genome wide search without any prior information of the chromosomal aberration in question. CGH analysis provides information on the origin of gains and losses of chromosomal material and maps these imbalances to their position on the source chromosome. Since CGH analysis is DNA based, culturing the specimen and the availability and quality of metaphase spreads are not considerations. Thus, even non-viable tissues are amenable to analysis by CGH. These factors make CGH an attractive technique for application in clinical cytogenetic analysis especially for samples where a complete and detailed karyotype cannot be obtained by conventional methods.