Jan. 15 – Harvard’s medical school and ten other specialist centers located in several European countries, as well as in the United States, have offered researchers at the University of Florence the chance to collaborate in the development of new programs for neonatal screening. The invitation was forwarded after tests to identify the congenital immunodeficiency caused by Adenosine Deaminase enzyme deficiency (conducted by the University Hospital company Meyer and the University of Florence) proved to be more reliable and effective, as well as cheaper than those provided for in U.S. In particular, a recent study – as stated on the website of the University of Florence – carried out by researchers and scientists from England, Germany and the United States, certified for the first time the early identification of all clinical forms of the defect. “Our experiments have made it possible to predict disease after only two days of life, although these conditions may arise in the following months and around the age of seven – said Giancarlo La Marca – a researcher in the Department of Pharmacology – while the test developed by the American colleagues have proved less reliable”.
