Should all babies have their genome sequenced at birth?

Inside Health

BBC

Health & Fitness, Science

4.4 • 575 Ratings

🗓️ 3 February 2026

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week we’re looking at government plans to start sequencing the DNA of every newborn baby in England within the next decade.

Each newborn would undergo whole genome sequencing to assess their risk of hundreds of diseases, under NHS plans.

It promises a revolution in spotting disease early - but are there also risks?

And use of nicotine pouches is rising, especially among young men.

But these little sachets that fit under the top lip aren’t yet regulated – so what do we know about the potential harms?

Finally, as the cold weather continues, James gets a lesson in walking like a penguin to see if it helps avoid trips, slips and falls… Presenter: James Gallagher Producers: Tom Bonnett, Alice-Lipscombe-Southwell and Thomas Hunt Production coordinator: Stuart Laws Content editor: Ilan Goodman

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.
0:07.6	Resolutions, ideas of being different.
0:10.3	Can we create long-lasting change?
0:12.2	Doctors Chris and Zand Van Tullochin are on a mission to help us take better care of ourselves.
0:17.1	You tried, it didn't work, what could you put in place?
0:20.2	And chartered psychologist Kimberly Wilson is on hand to help make sense of mental health.
0:25.2	We are constantly being told what's wrong with us, but there's so much that's right with us.
0:30.7	Reset and recharge with what's up docs and complex with Kimberly Wilson.
0:35.2	Listen on BBC Sounds.
0:37.9	Hello there and welcome to the Inside Health podcast. I'm James Gallagher. Could walking like a
0:43.3	penguin keep you safe in the cold weather? And our plans to analyse the DNA of every newborn
0:48.6	all they're cracked up to be? We'll find out in a bit. But first, nicotine pouches. If you've not heard of them, they're like, well, tea bags for nicotine.
0:57.8	You pop one in your mouth and the drug is absorbed through your cheeks
1:01.3	and they are booming in popularity in the UK,
1:04.7	particularly with young men.
1:06.6	The latest figures show around half a million people are using them
1:10.0	and nicotine pouchers are all over socials.
1:15.3	I think to start, it was a coping mechanism and also to get off vapes.
1:21.1	I had never smoked, but I noticed that more and more people around me started using it.
1:27.2	I've seen a lot of people like on Instagram, TikTok, stuff like that.
1:30.3	Everybody's like been talking about that since becoming more popular.
1:34.3	I think they're really like pleasing to the eye.
	...

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