GENEALOGY-DNA-L Archives

From:
Subject: [DNA] Newborn screening
Date: Tue, 1 Apr 2003 13:10:43 EST

In a message dated 04/01/03 7:36:26 AM Pacific Standard Time,
writes:

> Not that far fetched - for the past few years all hospital Maine births -
> each child has a blood sample taken at birth - where does that sample go
> ??

This web site appears to be a fairly comprehensive summary of newborn
screening tests performed in different states:

http://www.savebabies.org/index.htm

Figure 4 in a publication from the CDC
http://www.cdc.gov/genomics/info/books/21stcent3.htm shows how long different
states store samples. I suspect that storage has been a rather hit-and-miss
matter in the past, with many samples being discarded after the screening
tests are complete. I'm sure there will be changes on the horizon. "In
addition, programs should formalize operations for handling leftover
specimens; however, only a few screening programs have written guidelines for
the release and use of stored specimens. Consent requirements for extended
use of screening specimens are unclear. Some programs use informed refusal or
lack of dissent. Clarifications of the legal and ethical questions are
important to the use and release of leftover DBS specimens." DBS = dried
blood spots, which can be stored on cards similar to the ones I use in my DNA
Filer kits for home storage (I buy my supplies from Whatman, one of the
companies mentioned). With modern technology, it's possible to run hundreds
of different tests on DNA extracted from cards like that, but there are
obviously lots of issues to be resolved in this field.

Ann Turner - GENEALOGY-DNA List Administrator
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