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Scan Magazine | Special Theme | Welfare Technology in Finland
gists and research institutes that Modern Diagnostics works in collaboration with in order to further develop its tools that will ensure the lives of children are preserved. “One family I was treating had a child with an arrhythmia that was fatal. Had the arrhythmia been spotted earlier, say, in the womb, I believe this would have given the child a better chance for receiving the treatment for the condition, which would have increased the chances of survival considerably,” says Laine. Healthy prospects The LifeGuard® panel has huge potential in China. This country’s one-child policy entails special importance for the panel in cases where families who might have suffered from miscarriages or other health issues with their children can ensure that the next child is healthy. “We are able to provide our services in instances where a woman has suffered an earlier miscarriage, and might want to find if there is a genetic reason for this. We can test the parents to see whether they might be carriers for any hereditary conditions in order to take the necessary steps to ensure that they are able to have healthy children,” clarifies Laine. “We are exploring opportunities to expand to other countries/regions – China, Korea, Pakistan, India and the Middle East to start with. Marriages between cousins are not uncommon for instance in Pakistan, India, and countries in the Middle East, which means that there is a tendency for children with life-threatening hereditary disorders in these countries; we can help them to have healthy babies,” says Laine.
DNA from the foetus is released from the placenta, making it unnecessary to perform an invasive test. “There is fierce competition on the market, but I have confidence in our LifeGuard® services. We are currently involved in a pilot project where we are seeking the genetic causes of cot death in a cohort study – the results may open a remarkable new view on the underlying causes and genetic consultation of the
disease. I believe that knowledge is crucial: the more we know, the more children we can prevent from dying. The wellbeing of children is our top priority, and the ethics, quality and safety of the testing is our means to the end,” Laine concludes.
For more information, please visit: www.moderndiagnostics.fi
The wellbeing of children: the top priority Modern Diagnostics have recently started to offer non-invasive prenatal testing which detects the most common chromosomal abnormalities already at pregnancy, without invasive procedures. Normally prenatal diagnostic testing, based on amniocentesis, carries a 1 per cent risk of miscarriage. Modern Diagnostics offers a test that detects chromosome mutations from the mother’s blood, as the
Dr Jukka Laine, Chief Executive Officer of the company, was specialising to become a paediatric pathologist when the idea of Modern Diagnostics came to him. “What struck a chord with me was that as many as 100,000 unexplained children’s deaths occur each year in Europe and the US. I wanted to do something to fix it.”
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