Scotland begins testing newborn babies for rare genetic condition

Scotland has become the first part of the UK to test newborn babies for Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). The rare genetic condition causes progressive muscle weakness and, without treatment, can limit life expectancy to just two years. The condition was recently highlighted by singer Jesy Nelson, formerly of Little Mix, whose twin baby daughters have been diagnosed with SMA. Babies can be identified as having SMA through a heel prick test and early treatment can prolong their lives. As part of a two-year pilot, this test will now be given to all babies born in Scotland. The test has come too late for Grayce Pearson, now three, from Milton, Glasgow, who was diagnosed with SMA when she was a baby. She lacks a protein vital for muscle development which affects everything from walking to swallowing and breathing. Her father Tony said: "Overnight she stopped kicking her legs and wasn't attempting to crawl. She wasn't trying to reach out for things." Getting a diagnosis is a race against time because as nerve cells die, treatment options and outcomes change. After raising concerns about her six-month-old baby's decline in movement, her mother Carrie said she was at first told she was just