Who was Carlo Moreschi ?
Carlo Moreschi studied Medicine at the University of Pavia at the end of the 19th century where he developed a strong interest in the exploding field of Immunology. He started his experimental work in the Institute of General Pathology (known at the time as the Laboratory of Microbiology and General Pathology) and continued his work elsewhere in Pavia before moving to a post in Messina where he died in 1921 from smallpox contracted from a seaman.
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- His work
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- Carlo Moreschi is known for his work on thyphoid which he started in R. Pfeiffer's laboratory in Germany and for several other studies on the antibody reponse to serum and other proteins. This work indicated that the antibody response was not confined to infectious agents (or their products) and also formed the basis for the so-called Moreschi's phenomenon. In these experiments Carlo Moreschi observed that incubation of thyphoid bacteria with a diluted (goat) anti-thyphoid serum did not lead to agglutination. However, bacterial agglutination could be induced by addition of anti-goat serum [Moreschi, 1908]. Although at the time Carlo Moreschi did not realize the mechanism responsible for this phenomenon, R. Coombs and his colleagues, who discovered the antiglobulin reaction in Cambridge in 1945, [Coombs et al., 1945] readily acknowledged that the Moreschi's phenomenon was the basis and an early application of the anti-globulin reaction.
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References
- Moreschi C.
- Neue Tatsachen uber die Blutkorperchen-Agglutination.
- Zentralbl Bakteriol Parasitenkd Infektkr 1 Originale 46: 49-51 (1908)
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- Coombs RRA, Mourant AE and Race RR
- A new test for the detection of weak and 'incomplete' Rh agglutinins.
- Lancet ii: 15-16 (1945)
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The Carlo Moreschi Prize
It is intended that the Carlo Moreschi Prize be awarded to a 3rd year medical student at the University of Pavia who distinguishes him/herself in the study of Immunology as reflected by the Exam results. Details of the Prize and procedures are under consideration and further information will be posted on this web site when it becomes available.
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