Would-be parents using IVF to conceive will soon be able to give their embryos a "genetic MoT" to screen for diseases.

The £1,500 test could be available as early as next year and would screen for genetic diseases such as muscular dystrophy, cystic fibrosis and Huntington's disease.

It could also enable scientists to screen unborn children for risks of developing heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer's in later life.

The test would be taken on a two-day-old IVF embryo using a technique called karyomapping.

This method can currently detect only 2 per cent of the 15,000 known genetic conditions but a "revolution" in the test will make screening much more effective.

Professor Alan Handyside, who developed the technique, is applying for a licence and said: "We are validating it, but it is going to be a revolution if it works out. It makes genetic screening much more straightforward."

Its use as a method of creating designer babies, which has caused alarm in genetic testing in the past, has been ruled out as impractical by the the Bridge Centre in London, which is developing the test.

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