Newborn babies admitted to the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) rely on the quick decisions and rapid action of the medical team responsible for them. DNA testing is critical to determine what specialized care a struggling baby might need. Though, such genomic testing has typically taken days to complete and is usually only administered to babies showing certain symptoms such as seizures. Now, new record-breaking research looks to revolutionize NICU care with rapid DNA sequencing technology that can be completed in hours, not days.
A team of researchers recently broke a Guinness World Record by sequencing DNA in just three hours and 57 minutes. this achievement was part of a collaborative scientific endeavor by the Roche sequencing lab, Broad clinical Labs, and boston Children’s Hospital. Their research was published in The New England Journal of Medicine.# New DNA Sequencing Technology Can Wholly Change Care For Newborns
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Researchers have shown that it’s possible to sequence a person’s entire genome in hours, but most current methods are too slow, expensive, or complicated for everyday hospital use. A new approach called sequencing by expansion (SBX) looks to change that. It works by creating a copy of a baby’s DNA in an expanded form that can be quickly read. this technology can even flag different types of genetic changes within 30 minutes. To test whether this could work in the real world, the team tried its method on infants in a NICU setting.
Over three weeks, the researchers tested their new sequencing-by-expansion system on 15 genomes with parental and hospital approval. These genomes included reference samples, undiagnosed patient samples, and seven NICU infants. On average, the team could identify genetic variants in just about four hours.All samples were also tested and certified with external clinical labs to ensure accuracy.
While this new technique is still being perfected, the researchers are optimistic about the results so far and want to keep pushing forward. The field of genetics is consistently driving medical advancements, such as tweaking one gene to extend lifespans by up to 30%. This SBX technology could revolutionize NICU care operations.
## How this DNA sequencing could be used
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