Screening newborns
Newborn screening (NBS) is done between 24 and 48 hours after birth with a heel prick and blood placed on filter paper. Samples are tested for 31 to 80 of selected treatable disorders. If any disorders are present, the newborn’s doctors know within a week and start treatment to prevent death or grave harm for life.
It is possible to supplement NBS with whole genome sequencing (WGS) to check for the presence of 40% to 60% of 7,000 rare diseases with a genetic cause.
WGS is reading all of a person’s DNA, including genes that are 2% or less of your DNA.
WGS reveals DNA variants, as compared to a DNA standard.
These DNA variants are clinically presented in five classes: benign, likely benign, variant of unknown significance (VUS), likely pathogenic and pathogenic.
The WGS workflow ends with a report for the doctor detailing identified variants with their classification.
The doctor is concerned generally with just pathogenic or likely pathogenic results, each calls for deeper DNA dive to double-check and confirm the results. This process works well and quickly.
Cost of workflow, including the report, is $1,000.
Using WGS, we already know, from limited studies using WGS, that around 450 of genetic rare disorders are also treatable.
WGS may also disclose non-treatable genetic disorders, which can decrease diagnostic odysseys and costs. Google it.
I just attended the first International Conference on Newborn Sequencing. More to come on WGS related to a diagnosis of “Let’s wait and see what develops.”
Eric K. Peterson
Lewiston
Look it up, Marv
I read the Marvin Dugger column published in the Sept. 25 Lewiston Tribune. ...
The phrase that immediately came to mind is “There are none so blind as those who will not see.”
As is typical of many of the far right who write for the Tribune, his own column is nothing but a generalized complaint-fest coming right out of Fox News. ...
First, Dugger says Internal Revenue Service job posts require agents be willing to carry guns and use deadly force. I looked up the IRS job posts. None of them said that. ...
Second, he is evidently distressed about hiring of 87,000 new IRS agents. As a loyal American who proudly pays his taxes in full every year, I have no sympathy for those who are disloyal to our country that they want the benefits of living here but don’t want to contribute. Of course, these are some of the wealthy, who finance the Republican candidates and expect payback.
Third, Dugger rants about rare earth minerals but only singles out their use for “solar panels, windmills, and batteries in your electric car.”
Do a bit of research online, Mr. Dugger. ... You will find that these rare earths are used for a variety of high-tech purposes, not just the renewable energy dreaded by the right-wingers. ...
As far as President Joe Biden naming MAGA Republicans as enemies of the state, maybe the MAGA Republicans should stop sending large numbers of louts to trash our seat of government. ...
Danny Radakovich
Lewiston
Enough is enough
Since 1999, I have watched and waited for the final approval and construction of the U.S. 95 Highway south of Moscow near Thorncreek Road. As a native of this area, there is no question in my mind how important this construction is to those of us commuting every day to work, to our children’s school activities and to other family affairs.
As a child, I can remember my mother recall many accidents and deaths along the existing route. Recently my husband and I barely escaped a potentially fatal accident on Snow Road. Over the years driving home from work as I neared the top of the first U.S. 95 hill south of Moscow, I always checked in the distance for the red and blue lights of police/emergency lights signaling another accident on Reisenaur Hill and then took an alternate route home to avoid it. ...
I have patiently watched the Paradise Ridge Defense Coalition file their lawsuits. I, too, am very concerned about our environment and our wildlife. I appreciate their efforts to assure that the proposed routes were properly investigated. ...
But enough is enough. ...
I support the route chosen by the Idaho Transportation Department and the Army Corps of Engineers, who are professionals and experts in their field. ...
For the PRDC to continue its resistance to the project will only delay its completion. Their neighbors and friends will continue to be unnecessarily put at risk ... and the cost of construction ... will continue to rise.
Wileen Anderson
Genesee
