Dr Ian Findlay, a molecular biologist from Leeds University, has developed the technique which he says is 1,000 times more sensitive than normal DNA tests.

It will allow scientists to screen for up to 10 chromosomes instead of the two they can test for now.

Dr Findlay said: "By looking at 10 chromosomes, we can test for almost any genetic disorder, and we'll be able to look at a whole range at the same time."

The test involves studying the DNA of a single cell up to six times. Current tests only allow a cell to be studied once.

The new technique will therefore increase accuracy as well as the breadth of disorders that can be tested.

Dr Findlay says it may be possible to apply it to pregnant women in the future and allow them to be able to check for abnormalities at a much earlier stage than the present 14-16 weeks.

Discrimination

But a spokesman for the Society for the Unborn Child called the test "a fatal form of discrimination against the disabled".

"There is a lot of focus on producing babies for the infertile, but here embryos are being deliberately destroyed," he said.

"It is being hailed as a breakthrough, but it is very retrograde. A lot of progress is being made against discrimination against the disabled.

"Paradoxically, medical science is becoming more firmly entrenching discrimination against them."

However, reproductive experts say the test could help infertile couples have more chance of conceiving.

At present, only one in four IVF embryos leads to pregnancy.

Doctors say this is because up to 50% have chromosomal abormalities.