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Hospital tests for rare conditions in newborn babies
Sunderland Echo
|September 20, 2025
Parents in Sunderland getting ready to welcome their baby into the world are being offered a test for more than 200 rare genetic conditions.
Families being offered maternity care at Sunderland Royal Hospital and South Tyneside District Hospital are among those at more than 40 NHS hospitals taking part in the Generation Study.
The research aims to screen 100,000 newborns, offering them whole genome sequencing, using blood samples usually taken from their umbilical cord shortly after birth.
The study will identify rare conditions such as Metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD)-a rare inherited disorder which causes a progressive loss of physical and mental skills-in babies sooner.
This story is from the September 20, 2025 edition of Sunderland Echo.
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