#emelee

Hi hi hi I wanted to write yesterday on the train but fell asleep so I'm back here writing at 6.30 on the train to work, SO today we are talking about yet ANOTHER Team Castle character!! Fellow guests, say hi to Emelee!

Emelee is a very curious girl, and the Teams Castle scout, she's kinda younger than most of her other teammates, exception made for the rest of offense (so her gfs Fiammetta and Missy) and she's VERY overexcited at all times, probably because of the novelty of being on a brand new planet with a totally different species

That's right! Emelee is an alien, specifically a shapeshifting slimey alien, and xe actually kinda sucks at being human, xe has picked up stuff like language and some habits but xer general way of existing around people is quite odd, but people around do love her

She also LOVES humans, she thinks that they're weird and that's what makes them so interesting and xe especially loves affection! Her species doesn't really have a concept of affection outside of the family, so she's AMAZED at how humans care for not only other humans that aren't their spawns but for other creatures as well! And her permanence on earth also made xer discover romance and oh boy does she love romance xe absolutely loves romance, she's got two girlfriends and she loves them sooo dearly

Trivia fact to conclude since she doesn't know lots about humanity sometimes her teammates try to gaslight xer into believing things they do are totally normal, no Emelee, people don't usually commit that much murder and worship a fire goddess

Sequencing a newborn's genome could potentially specify more health information than the current newborn screening process. However, Many questions remain to be answered before contemplating a possible future of routine newborn genome sequencing.

Here are a few questions that came to mind:

Can DNA sequencing more accurate and faster than the traditional methods of newborn screening?

What if the genome sequence reveals information about untreatable diseases, or even conditions that will not occur until adulthood? 

What are the steps from there? 

Will there be any support available for families and individuals?

Will this help be free? Or would it be another way to gain profit?

What is the risk to newborns that the identification of specific genetic variants could lead to future discrimination? 

How does one prevent this?

Can it be prevented?

Do companies have the right to deny someone a job because they may be genetically “unqualified for the job”?

Will insurance be able to refuse services to someone who gets diagnosed with a disorder at birth?

How practicable would it be for states to perform genome sequencing in addition to existing testing programs? 

Or would the existing testing programs get cancelled?

How long will newborn genome sequences be stored? 

Will they be deleted/destroyed after analysis?

How does this affect the justice system?

What happens if a person never develops a condition they were though to have? 

Can you sue for emotional stress?

In the last few years, technology has improved a lot. Many of these technological advances have the potential to improve the quality and specificity of newborn screening. The human genome project and other DNA research projects lead to the possibility of having a secondary confirmation of many newborn screening. Some people even believe that the human genome project can help serve as a primary screening. This could potentially widen the scope of newborn screening drastically since it may also be able to detect many adult onset disorders at birth. As technology improves, the definition of screening shifts closer to diagnosis.

In the United States, the American College of Medical Genetics recommended a uniform number of diseases that all infants born in every state should be screened for. They also developed an evidence-based review process for the addition of conditions/disorders. If a state wants to add another test to the screening, they must go through the American College of Medical Genetics.

As I mentioned before, each state runs its own newborn screening program. Therefore, each states runs a different number of tests during the process. 

Most states however,  screen for about 38 conditions. This means that there are differences in the screening process and the types of conditions tested for in each state.

Throughout my research, I noticed that none of my sources revealed how a state decides whether or not a disorder should be tested for during Newborn Screening. 

I think this relates a lot to what were trying to get at this entire unit.

If we have the means to ensure or help a baby’s health, why aren’t we doing it?