Baby DNA Analysis Ushers in Brave New World of Treatment
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When Kira Walker was three weeks old, her pediatrician noticed a problem. She was frequently hungry and had dangerously low blood sugar for no obvious reason.
Kira was born in Kansas City, Missouri, where her doctors had access to a service few hospitals can match. Her DNA was sent to Children’s Mercy Hospital geneticist Stephen Kingsmore, who is able to determine a diagnosis in a day or two for half the babies with mysterious diseases referred to him. Until recently, these riddles took years to solve, or were never unraveled at all.