California Newborn DNA Database Shocks Parents
Regional News
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Many parents in California have recently been shocked to learn that the state has for decades been collecting the DNA of infants without parents realizing it.
CBS News reports California has been collecting and storing newborn blood samples since 1983. Some of the blood in samples taken from newborns is used to test for certain disorders.
But, the rest becomes “property of the state,” and possibly even sold to outside researchers.
Parents can request the state destroy their child’s blood samples, but the burden is on them to make the request, if they even know about it in the first place.
California is one of four states storing blood samples indefinitely in a state-run “bio-bank.”
Corrie O'Connor
