Before Cheryl Connolly gave birth to her first child, Loudon, she ran through the checklist of all the things expecting parents are supposed to do these days:
- Create a birth plan.
- Consent to the newborn heel prick test for metabolic diseases.
- Bank his umbilical cord blood.
But now, she learned, there was a new one to consider: Sequence his DNA.
Connolly knew of an ongoing genomics research study called MyCode, which would make it possible for his doctor to take a sample from Loudon’s umbilical cord and send it to a lab that would look for mutations in his genetic code.
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On the one hand, you might learn valuable information—like whether your child has the gene for dangerously high cholesterol, a treatable condition called familial hypercholesterolemia.
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On the other hand, you could also discover something terrifying that you’re helpless to prevent. A growing number of labs and apps will reveal a child’s potential to develop certain cancers or incurable diseases, such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, that wouldn’t appear until your child was grown—if at all.
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Read full, original post: Now You Can Genetically Test Your Child For Disease Risks. Should You?
