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Newborn screening for metabolic and genetic disease is arguably one of the greatest public health interventions—notwithstanding some ethical challenges and opportunities for improvement—because it reduces harm caused by treatable congenital disorders through early identification and intervention. Following the clinical newborn screening tests, residual, dried bloodspots (DBS) are regularly stored by state health departments, a process that can in some cases constitute biobanking.

Powerful works of art enrich our understanding of the issues that matter most in our lives—not least in controversial areas of the biosciences. By exploring the dense cultural networks that shape science and technology, they help us see multiple dimensions of policy issues that might be opaque to other forms of analysis. Novels, from Frankenstein to Never Let me Go, have provided a space for reflection, for deepening and expanding our awareness of the impact of genetics on society.

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