Hospital’s ‘Gene Machine’ boost on patient tests

PATIENTS at Sheffield’s Children’s Hospital are set to benefit from a groundbreaking “Gene Machine” system, which is being launched today.

The £500,000 Next Generation Sequencers are able to screen 100 genes at once for mutations.

This means that tests carried out on children and adults with suspected genetic disorders can now be returned within two weeks, instead of taking up to a year.

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Dr Ann Dalton, consultant clinical director of genetics at Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, said: “This is going to revolutionise genetic science immediately for our patients.

“Before we could only test one gene at a time but now we can test up to 100 together. This will mean a lot to some of our patients waiting on a confirmed diagnosis or changes in treatment.”

The systems are now in use at the genetics lab in Western Bank.

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