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One of the current hottest topics in clinical genetics is whether countries should implement population-wide preconception carrier screening. Preconception carrier screening identifies recessive diseases that individuals are carrying before those individuals have children. Preconception carrier screening implemented for specific populations with high carrier frequencies for certain diseases, has significantly reduced the incidence of the diseases in those populations. Current discussion centres on whether new genetic knowledge and technologies, especially next generation sequencing, can be used to make preconception carrier screening available to entire populations. This would allow anyone who wishes to undergo such screening to avoid having children with genetic diseases.