Expanded Newborn Screening
The number and type of conditions on NBS panels vary by state and are mandated by state statutes or administrative rules. Most states include at least 31 core conditions recommended by the Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary's
Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children (SACHDNC; 2011) (see Table 3). Many NBS programs include more than 50 conditions. Variability exists among states regarding whether screening for certain conditions is mandated or voluntary. Some tests are universally offered but not required, whereas thers are offered to select populations (NNS- GRC, 2012). Such conditions may include the uniform panel, secondary conditions detectable through tandem mass spectrometry, or other conditions that have not been recommended by the SACHDNc. Considerable interest exists in applying still newer technologies to NBS, such as deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) analysis (Hollegard et al., 2011) and genome-wide scanning. The DNA testing involves examination of a specimen for specific mutations (deviations or changes) in a particular gene (National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), 2012). Genome-wide scanning involves examining markers across an individuals complete set of DNA (NHGRI).