What is genetic screening for newborn deafness?

  Neonatal deafness genetic screening is performed at birth or within 3 days of birth with cord blood or heel blood collection to screen for deafness susceptibility and common genes.  A common method is currently used to screen for nine common mutation loci in the GJB2, SLC26A4, mitochondrial 12SrRNA and GJB3 genes using a deafness gene microarray. It allows early detection of children at high risk of delayed hearing loss caused by mutations in deafness genes, as well as drug deafness-sensitive children, thus enabling early diagnosis and early warning, and is an effective complement to newborn hearing screening.