Screen test

摘要

A low-cost, enzyme-based screening kit could help prevent infants in poor countries from developing disorders that lead to mental disabilities, claim its developers. Research by Enzolve Technologies based at NovaUCD, the technology transfer centre at University College Dublin, has led to the NeoScreenPak kit. It can detect common disorders that all newborn children are routinely tested for in most of western Europe. These conditions, which include phenylketonuria (PKU), maple syrup urine disease, homocystin-uria, galactosaemia and congenital hypothyroidism, can cause long-term and serious impairment if left undetected and untreated. 'It is an enzyme-based method for measuring elevated levels of metabolic compounds in the blood of newborn babies,' said Prof Paul Engel, director of Enzolve.