A genetic test that allows couples to be checked for incurable inherited diseases before they think about starting a family has been created by scientists.
The kit examines samples of blood for the flawed DNA behind almost 600 ‘catastrophic’ conditions, many of which kill in the first years of life.
Couples deemed to be at risk of having a child with a short life blighted by ill-health and pain could then opt for an IVF treatment that allows only healthy embryos to be implanted or to use donor eggs or sperm. They could also choose to adopt instead.
The kit could be available in British fertility clinics within months.
