Test that tells baby's future

As Leslie Morley cradles her tiny baby Luca in her arms, like every mother she dreams about the life ahead of him: what he will look like, who he'll marry, what career path he might take.

But already, Leslie knows more about her child than most parents. Just a few weeks ago, the Evening Standard invited her to take part in an extraordinary experiment to discover which diseases and medical conditions he will be most vulnerable to - even what might cause his death in old age.

Blood was taken from Luca, sealed in a test tube and flown to a unique laboratory in the US, to have a revolutionary new test that mapped his genetic make-up and ability to handle toxins in the body. Now available to the public and costing £300, it could revolutionise the way children are brought up - and give people the sort of information most receive only when it's too late.

Now, Leslie, 28, and her husband Steve, 38, know that Luca - and indeed his two-year-old sister Sathya - will be susceptible to an array of conditions that would normally only come to light in middle age. Among these likely weaknesses are lung cancer, heart disease, build-up of cholesterol and side-effects from a variety of common prescription drugs.

Leslie, a teacher from Tunbridge Wells, says that just the knowledge itself has become something of a burden. "The prospect of what would be found was both daunting and intriguing. Now that we know what they're most at risk from, it could change entirely the way we go about our lives and how we raise our children.

"Even though some of the conditions he might face may not occur for several years, it's daunting to know what might - and probably will - happen. That anxiety will always be with us. But at least we're armed with the information that can now protect his life. "

Dr Robert Jacobs, medical director of the Society for Complementary Medicine, took the blood and interpreted the results at his American laboratory, claiming they were "incredibly revealing".

The complicated process, which he has helped to perfect, assesses how an individual human body will deal with the toxins it will meet over a lifetime. Genetic factors are combined with this "detoxification" test to assess how the body will cope with food, drink, drugs, and the environment.

Both the Morley children, it transpires, have inherited several genes from each parent which make detoxification of environmental toxins, including tobacco smoke, more difficult. In particular, their lungs are more at risk of contracting cancer through cigarette smoke.

"We will, of course, discourage both of our children from smoking," says Leslie, "but now that we know that they have the same gene which Steve's grandparents had and that hastened their deaths from lung cancer, it's absolutely imperative that they never touch a cigarette."

Even without the dangers of smoking, Leslie was told that she should help to protect the children from the gene by making sure they eat plenty of cabbage, spinach and other brassica family vegetables. They should also
eat cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli and cauliflower as well as garlic, onions, grapes and berries which contain nutrients that increase the liver's ability to detox. She should also supplement their diet with vitamins C and E to help the process.

Another unforeseen problem was highlighted. Drugs such as Prozac and Valium could have a serious effect on them because the children's blood systems will struggle to deal efficiently with the toxicity.

"I would hope that Sathya would never need to be prescribed such drugs," says Leslie, "but of course this is valuable to know so early. We have also been advised that the children have inherited genes that can cause the build-up of cholesterol in the body, so we're eliminating fried food immediately.

"We won't be fanatical in the way we bring them up - there's nothing wrong with sugary or fatty foods, as long as it's in moderation. If you make your children become obsessed with their eating habits then they eventually rebel.

"We love cheese and it's a good source of calcium, but from now on I will only buy feta, ricotta, Edam or cottage cheese which are low-fat and
help both of the children's cholesterol problems which the test also identified could emerge in future years. Obviously they both love ice cream so they'll need to have less of it now.

"Because she has never had red meat, Sathya is unused to the taste so I can only hope that when she is older she won't want to be in and out of fast-food joints having burgers. I'll definitely steer both of them towards chicken or fish. We'll also stop having barbecues in the summer because the test has revealed that our children are more susceptible to ingesting the damaging carcinogens that barbecued meat can create.

"I was not shocked to find that we had weak genes. Instead, I was incredibly grateful to know and thankful that we can make sure we do everything possible to help our children's bodies - and our own - overcome these weaknesses so we may never experience the health problems that could otherwise happen."

The Society for Complementary Medicine: 020 7487 4334. Diagnostic Services (UK representative for Genovations and Great Smokies Lab in the US): 01663 718 822 or www.genovations.com