Generation Study by Genomics England: status and timeline

Generation Study

Find out whether whole-genome sequencing should sit alongside the standard newborn heel-prick test, which checks for 9 conditions, and inform a possible offer to every baby in England.

PilotStage 3 of 5

85,000+ babies recruited at 70+ NHS hospitals by Aug 2026; study runs until 2027.

Updated 21 Aug 2026Checked 11 Oct0 updates this week

Milestones

Next · Reach 100,000 newborns and complete the study

£105M government funding confirmedDec 2022Complete.
First newborns tested at 13 NHS hospitals3 Oct 2024Complete.
25,000 babies enrolled at 50+ NHS sites23 Oct 2025Complete.
50,000+ participants recruitedJun 2026Complete.
85,000+ recruited, 64,000+ results returned21 Aug 2026Complete.
Reach 100,000 newborns and complete the studyTarget 2027Current milestone.

Most important updates

Upcoming

2027Reach 100,000 newborns and complete the study (next)

Current obstacles

Evidence for national rolloutThe study must show that benefits, costs and NHS capacity to follow up flagged babies justify offering it to every newborn.
Storing genomes for lifeKeeping a child's genome raises consent, privacy and re-analysis questions the study is meant to explore.

Physics limits

A variant is not a diagnosisMany genetic changes raise risk only partly or not at all. How often a variant actually causes disease varies, so a genome alone can't say for sure a baby will get sick.
Short reads miss hard regionsStandard sequencing reads DNA in short pieces. Repeats, large rearrangements and look-alike genes are hard to place, so some disease variants go unseen.
Interpretation depends on reference dataCalling a variant harmful needs many prior examples. For rare variants and under-studied ancestries, that evidence often doesn't exist yet.

How it works

4 parts

Sample

Blood from the umbilical cord

Parents consent in pregnancy. At birth, blood is taken from the cord, so in most cases the baby needs no extra needle.

Sequencing

Read the whole genome

DNA is sequenced in full, then software checks a set list of genes linked to over 200 conditions with effective NHS treatments.

Review

Experts check before parents hear

NHS genomic scientists review any flagged variant; a suspected result is confirmed with standard clinical tests before diagnosis.

Library

Data kept for research

With consent, genomes join the National Genomic Research Library, so researchers can study genes and health over a lifetime.

Spec sheet

Spec	Generation Study
Target newborns	100,000^R (reported)
Recruited (Aug 2026)	85,000+^R (reported)
Conditions screened	200+^R (reported)
Recruiting hospitals	70+^R (reported)
Condition-suspected results	200+^R (reported)
Result if condition suspected	Within 28 days^R (reported)

^R reported by the company

Update log

4 updates

About Genomics England

The team behind Generation Study

Genomics England

Newborn genome screening, NHS genomics

Genomics England is a company owned by the UK Department of Health and Social Care. It ran the 100,000 Genomes Project, works with NHS England on genomic testing, and now runs the Generation Study, which sequences the full genomes of newborn babies.

Generation Study: 85,000+ newborns recruited at 70+ NHS hospitals by August 2026, toward a 100,000 target.
64,000+ results returned so far; over 200 babies flagged as possibly having a treatable rare condition.
The NHS 10 Year Health Plan (July 2025) aims to offer genome sequencing to every newborn within a decade.

genomicsengland.co.uk (opens genomicsengland.co.uk)Company profile →

Founded: 201313 yrs
Headquarters: United Kingdom
Status: Governmentof UK Department of Health and Social Care
Valuation: government
Works in: BiotechGenomics & sequencing
Coverage: 1 program · 5 updateslatest 21 Aug 2026checked 11 Oct
Partners: NHS England (opens england.nhs.uk)
Suppliers: Lifebit (opens genomicsengland.co.uk)
People: Rich ScottChief Executive Officer

Spec

Generation Study

Target newborns

100,000^R (reported)

Recruited (Aug 2026)

85,000+^R (reported)

Conditions screened

200+^R (reported)

Recruiting hospitals

70+^R (reported)

Condition-suspected results

200+^R (reported)

Result if condition suspected

Within 28 days^R (reported)

Generation Study

Milestones

Most important updates

Upcoming

Current obstacles

Physics limits

How it works

Blood from the umbilical cord

Read the whole genome

Experts check before parents hear

Data kept for research

Spec sheet

Update log

Fri 21 Aug

Jul 2025

Thu 3 Oct 2024

Thu 15 Dec 2022

About Genomics England

Current obstacles

Physics limits

How it works

Blood from the umbilical cord

Read the whole genome

Experts check before parents hear

Data kept for research

Spec sheet

Update log

Fri 21 Aug

Jul 2025

Thu 3 Oct 2024

Thu 15 Dec 2022

About Genomics England