A 2026 Global Consensus on Genomic Newborn Screening Puts Fetal and Neonatal Physiology Back at the Center of NICU Practice
In early 2026, Genetics in Medicine published a Delphi-based consensus statement from the International Consortium on Newborn Sequencing (ICoNS) — ten recommendations for selecting which conditions genomic newborn screening programs should target, explicitly built to extend the long-standing Wilson-Jungner screening principles into the genomic era. Led by Lilian Downie, Julie Yeo, Thomas Minten and colleagues, the consensus signals that genomic sequencing is moving from research pilot toward standard newborn screening across multiple health systems at once — and that shift puts new pressure on neonatal and perinatal teams to keep their grasp of the underlying physiology current.
That is exactly the gap the seventh edition of Polin and Fox Fetal and Neonatal Physiology (Elsevier, September 2026) is built to close. Alongside its established core — now 169 chapters across 25 sections — this edition adds new chapters on the genetic control of development and multi-omics approaches to neonatal disease, with new co-editor Dr. Wendy Chung bringing genomic medicine expertise directly into a text clinicians already treat as their primary physiology reference.
In practice, that means: a NICU team interpreting an abnormal genomic newborn screen can use the genetics/embryology and endocrine-function chapters to separate a true positive from a screening artifact. A maternal-fetal medicine service counseling a family on a prenatal genetic finding can connect that result to the new intrauterine-environment and developmental-pharmacology chapters to explain what is actually happening physiologically in utero. And a neonatal-perinatal fellowship program building genomics into its curriculum gets new clinical correlation chapters and clinical application boxes that link a gene-level finding to an actual bedside decision.
For a hospital or university library serving a neonatal-perinatal program, this is an efficient way to keep a reference shelf current with where the field is heading: one two-volume set spanning both established physiology and the genomic material now entering clinical consensus statements, rather than several narrower, faster-dating titles. See the full Medicine collection at CLNZ Books for related titles.
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Q&A
What prompted the 2026 genomic newborn screening consensus?
A Delphi-based consensus process run by the International Consortium on Newborn Sequencing, published in Genetics in Medicine, set out ten recommendations for selecting conditions for genomic newborn screening, updating the Wilson-Jungner principles for the genomic era.
How does Fetal and Neonatal Physiology, 7th Edition respond to this shift?
It adds new chapters on the genetic control of development and multi-omics approaches to neonatal disease, with genomic medicine expert Dr. Wendy Chung joining as a new co-editor.
Who should read the new genetics and multi-omics chapters?
Neonatologists, perinatologists, maternal-fetal medicine specialists, and fellows who need to connect a genomic screening result to clinical management.
Does the book cover fetal cardiovascular physiology as well?
Yes — a dedicated section covers fetal and neonatal cardiovascular physiology, relevant to fetal cardiology and NICU cardiac assessment.
Where can I buy Fetal and Neonatal Physiology, 7th Edition?
It is available now at CLNZ Books, Bookseller for Professionals Worldwide.