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U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt Eric T. Sheler/Wikimedia CommonsAdding value. NIH wants to know how genome sequencing could go beyond existing newborn screening tests. In a few years, all new parents may go home from the hospital with not just a bundle of joy, but with something else—the complete sequence of their baby’s DNA. A new research program funded at $25 million over 5 years by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will explore the promise—and ethical challenges—of sequencing every newborn’s genome.The pilot projects build on decades-old state screening programs that take a drop of blood from nearly every newborn’s...

A California firm called Fertility Institutes is advertising gender selection for in vitro fertilization (IVF), claiming to be the first to offer tests to pre-determine eye, skin, and hair color. LifeSiteNews.com reports on the rapidly growing trend of sex-selection abortion, an idea many have considered since IVF technology was forming in the 1970s. The Fertility Institute's advertisement guarantees a 100-percent success rate and reads as follows: "For the first time ever, patients having genetic screening for abnormal chromosome conditions in their embryos will be able to elect expanded testing that can greatly increase the odds of achieving a healthy pregnancy...

Every baby could have its genetic code mapped out at birth within 10 years, a process which will predict conditions such as diabetes and heart disease and help prevent them. Jay Flatley, head of leading genome company Illumina, predicted a revolution in healthcare after the complete DNA read-out for every newborn becomes a technical reality. He said only social and legal issues would delay the process. But with many people reluctant to have their genome read for fear it could be used against them by employers or insurance companies, the process is expected to raise difficult questions over privacy. The...

Cheap genome screening is becoming ever more widely available. For example, the price of a genome screening test offered by Silicon Valley startup 23andMe has dropped from $999 to $399, and it now reveals even more genetic information to customers. Let's say the price for such tests falls to the price of over-the-counter paternity tests, making it inexpensive and easy for DNA collected from anyone to be screened. Collecting DNA from suspects is a standard plot device in television shows like CSI: Miami and is a facet of real life crime solving. Investigators pick up a cigarette butt, a soft...

Since I am on the subject of movies, who remembers Gattaca? This was a movie set about 20 or 30 years in the future. Before people are born, their genes are altered to edit out any imperfections. They are stronger, smarter and faster than their natural-born counterparts and are highly unlikely ever to develop a disease. People begin to discriminate against natural-borns, those people conceived and born without the benefit of genetic enhancement. Simply hand in a job application and the skin cells you leave on the paper will be examined to determine if you have any genetic imperfections. It...

DNA legacy; Stillwater first in county to identify pupils through genetic imprint Posted Wednesday, November 20, 2002 By RUSS FLANAGAN Herald Staff Writer STILLWATER — Parents of Stillwater Township School pupils may want to clear some space in the closet for an unusual storage item — their child’s DNA. Stillwater police began collecting DNA samples from the 440 pupils at the K-6 school on Tuesday as part of a new initiative to bring child identification in Sussex County into the 21st century. Police said the DNA Legacy Kit would be a vast improvement over the outmoded fingerprinting system that is...