Inherited Diseases Found Sooner in Newborns With DNA Scan
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Gene sequencing can speed the diagnosis of rare genetic disorders in newborns and find causes of mental retardation in cases with unknown origins, according to two studies that move DNA mapping closer to clinical use.
Researchers at Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics in Kansas City, Missouri, scanned the DNA of sick infants using a new speed-reading method to diagnose rare genetic illnesses in two days instead of weeks, results published in Science Translational Medicine found. Dutch scientists reported in the New England Journal of Medicine how they found genetic answers for 16 of 100 patients with mental retardation of unknown cause.