Each week, we highlight the news of the week in digital health. Find the titles that have made the buzz, the latest trends and innovations as well as the latest news in the field.
Today, newborn screening is carried out in all developed countries. It is based on a few drops of blood obtained by pricking the baby’s heel, which are then subjected to a series of biochemical tests. The list of conditions sought varies from nation to nation
In addition to the ethical issues that may arise from access to information about one’s child’s genetic make-up, it is not always certain that the child will contract a particular disease. Indeed, the probability of gene mutations can be random depending on the disease (for example, cystic fibrosis). This is why only diseases for which a proven correlation exists and for which an effective treatment is available will be taken into account in this pilot project carried out in the NHS (see front page).
Finally, despite the progress of technology, the introduction of systematic sequencing at birth raises many questions. Although technically possible and financially ‘accessible’, sequencing raises questions about its real clinical usefulness and possible negative effects, often linked to the erroneous but widespread belief in strict genetic determinism.
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