A blood sample taken at birth found Freddie's hidden eye tumours — and treatment began in time to protect his sight

Freddie Underhay passed every routine eye test in hospital. Nothing looked wrong. But a blood sample taken from his umbilical cord, tested as part of the Generation Study — a research programme reading the full DNA of 100,000 newborns to look for more than 200 rare conditions — found hereditary retinoblastoma, a rare eye cancer that affects about 44 young children a year in the UK. The result was confirmed four weeks later, and Freddie is now receiving chemotherapy and laser treatment at Birmingham Children's Hospital. His ophthalmologist, Dr Joe Abbott, says finding the tumours this early has greatly improved the chances of protecting Freddie's eyesight. So far 20,000 babies have joined the study across 51 hospitals.

SDG 3 · Good health and well-being — Mechanism: institutional program