Researchers who believe genomics can transform human health love to recount success stories. They’ll tell you about the 3-month-old boy whose heart was failing until researchers pinpointed what was ailing him. Or the baby girl who could have had a life-threatening reaction to anesthesia had researchers not sequenced her DNA ahead of time.
But a new study focuses on a much more somber set of stories: those of infants who died with genetic diseases and who in some cases could have been treated, perhaps even saved.