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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World

Ethical questions surround the NHS sampling babies’ DNA

NHS
Baby sleeping
‘Infants now face their private, personal, biological data being captured, stored and used by who-knows-what corporations on behalf of the NHS.’ Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA

Re your report (All babies in England to get DNA test to assess risk of diseases within 10 years, 20 June), the NHS plans to test the DNA of all babies to “assess disease risk”, in association with AI, having already sampled 100,000 newborns. The Department of Health and Social Care said that genomics and AI would be used to “revolutionise prevention” and provide faster diagnoses and an “early warning signal for disease”.

In line with previous predictions, when individuals who submitted to a PCR test (which amplifies genetic material) during Covid-19 had their DNA sold for profit without their consent, infants now face their private, personal, biological data being captured, stored and used by who-knows-what corporations on behalf of the NHS.

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