BABIES will have their DNA checked at birth for free from next year in a move that is set to revolutionise healthcare.
The NHS will ask parents if they want their tot tested to identify any inherited diseases and a high risk of illness in later life.
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It will allow doctors to immediately confirm and treat thousands of rare genetic conditions, including cystic fibrosis, sickle cell disease and Huntington’s.
It could also reveal those at increased risk of cancer, Alzheimer’s and heart disease throughout their lifetime.
The results will be placed on children’s medical records, where they could affect the drugs and lifestyle advice they get for life.
Around 3,000 of the 660,000 babies born a year in England and Wales are thought to have a treatable, early-onset disease.
Genomics England, a Government-owned genetics service, is working with the NHS to launch the pilot project next year.
It will be done alongside the current heel prick test for nine illnesses. If successful, it could be available to all within three years.
‘HEALTHCARE REVOLUTION’
Its chief executive, Chris Wigley, revealed he hopes 20,000 parents will take up the offer to have their newborn’s genome analysed.
Mr Wigley said: “The benefits of this test can play out over the course of someone’s life.
“Someone may have had their genome sequenced as a newborn and 25 years later they develop another health problem.
“We can use the same genomic data to assess, ‘Are they likely to have an adverse effect to this drug versus that drug?’
“With Alzheimer’s disease, for example, we can generate insights for how someone is likely to respond to different treatments that they may encounter when they are 75, from the moment they are born.
“That is one of the most mind-blowing things from the insights we can derive from this information.”
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Britain is “on the cusp of a healthcare revolution”.
He added: “Predictive, preventative, personalised healthcare. That is the future for the NHS.”
