Clinical Pathology Labs Are on Track to Get New Genetic Test That Screens for 448 Rare Childhood Diseases
Rapid gene sequencing technology will give medical laboratories a new diagnostic tool
Rapidly-evolving molecular diagnostics technology is about to trigger a major expansion in pre-conception genetic testing. In turn, this could benefit clinical laboratories and pathology groups as they begin to offer these genetic tests to help prospective parents screen their DNA for recessive gene mutations that cause 448 deadly childhood diseases in offspring.
This breakthrough medical laboratory test delivers two important benefits. First, as a universal carrier screening test, this multiplex assay greatly expands the number of diseases that can be screened at one time. Second, its next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology dramatically reduces the cost of genetic sequencing. Instead of thousands of dollars, this test only costs about $400!
