Should we sequence the DNA of every baby born in Australia?
Should we sequence the DNA of every baby born in Australia? Soon, you could have your say.
Within a few days of being born, more than 300,000 Australian babies a year have a spot of their blood analysed to screen for a range of serious but treatable health conditions.
The aim of this newborn bloodspot screening is to detect babies at risk of health conditions and to intervene early. These are conditions that could cause the baby serious harm if not treated in the first days or weeks of life.
About one in 1,000 babies (or about 300 a year) are found to have one of these conditions that would otherwise go undetected.
Australia’s screening program – which reaches about 99% of newborn babies – mainly uses tests that measure the levels of specific biochemicals in a baby’s blood. There is limited use of genetic testing (sequencing a small amount of DNA) as part of the program.
But as genetic technologies improve, researchers are discussing options for updating the screening program. This might include sequencing the DNA of every baby born.
It’s early days and we don’t yet know what an updated screening program might look like. But in a few months, we’ll ask Australians for their say.
The recommendations from this research project will be presented to all health ministers, and will be used to directly inform how we might use genomics in newborn screening in Australia.
You can read the full article here: Should we sequence the DNA of every baby born in Australia?
