“Standing by this instrument in my laboratory, I’m transported again three many years, after I launched a pilot research that grew to become the Philippines’ new child health-screening programme.
When our pilot started in 1996, we manually examined the infants’ blood-spot samples, one after the other, for 5 frequent well being circumstances. Now, with the assistance of this automated genetic-screening processor, we check hundreds of samples every day for a number of circumstances, together with uncommon ailments — all with only a drop or two of blood.
Well being-screening programmes resembling this shortly detect circumstances that may trigger studying disabilities, delayed improvement and even loss of life with out early intervention. Nonetheless, such screening isn’t out there for 70% of infants worldwide.
