The UK’s National Measurement Laboratory (NML) at LGC has expanded its portfolio of reference materials to include the first ever multi-allergen reference material kit containing five common allergens (milk, egg, almond, hazelnut, walnut), traceable to the SI (International System of Units). Food allergy is a serious and growing problem, with up to 2 million people in the UK estimated to be affected....

BioMed X has announced the start of a new joint research group in collaboration with Merck. With this new group, BioMed X and Merck extend their ongoing collaboration to a total of six joint research projects at the BioMed X Innovation Center in Heidelberg, Germany. The new project will focus on the role of the intestinal epithelial barrier in the development and exacerbation of autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and multiple sclerosis (MS)....

Uniquely shaped red blood cells observed for the first time in patient blood could be breakthrough in diagnosis of Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS). Although the three-dimensional (3-D) shape of erythrocytes is strongly associated with various malignant blood disorders, conventional optical imaging approaches only provide information on two-dimensional morphology. Now, a Korean research team has used the Tomocube holotomography microscope to observe uniquely shaped red blood cells (RBCs) for the first time....

Cellectricon, a collaborative services provider dedicated to advancing drug discovery and research in the areas of chronic pain and neurodegenerative diseases announces a collaboration with StressMarq Biosciences. As a supplier of life science reagents such as primary antibodies, antibody conjugates, proteins, immunoassay kits and small molecules, Stressmarq Biosciences will work with Cellectricon to enable the collaborative development of next-generation reagents and assays for neurodegenerative disease research.

Analytik has published a white paper that provides an informative introduction to particle size characterisation using the Differential Centrifugal Sedimentation (DCS) technique. Differential Centrifugal Sedimentation is an extremely powerful tool for high resolution particle characterisation, especially in the size range 0.002 micron (2nm) to 10 microns. It enables very narrow distributions of particles differing in size by less than 2 per cent to be resolved...

A collaborative global scientific effort, which includes a group of researchers from the University of Glasgow, has completed the most comprehensive study of whole cancer genomes to date. The work will significantly improve our fundamental understanding of cancer, signposting new directions for its diagnosis and treatment. The Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes Project (PCAWG), or the Pan-Cancer Project, has discovered causes of previously unexplained cancers....

California-based drug discovery company Neuropore Therapies is using INTEGRA Biosciences’ EVOLVE, VIAFLO and VOYAGER pipettes to help accelerate research in both its in vitro and in vivo pharmacology departments. The company, which is dedicated to halting the progression of neurodegenerative diseases by targeting the core processes underlying these disorders, has been a long term supporter of INTEGRA, as a Neuropore scientist explained...

Group identifies the parts of the wheat genome that control fibre content of white flour – raises hope that products will be in supermarkets within five years. It might be the best thing to happen to bread since, well, sliced bread. An international group of scientists led by Rothamsted Research and the John Innes Centre have opened the door to healthier white bread, after they pinpointed genes responsible for the dietary fibre content of flour....

Underpinning the study is the researcher’s use of Agilent’s specialized Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy technology. Agilent has developed a prototype sampling approach that enables researchers to work non-invasively, and with speed and accuracy. This technology, built around Agilent’s 4300 Handheld FTIR, is already being used in studies for direct skin measurements, where it provides higher-quality data more reliably when compared to prior methods....

Through the partnership, Noscendo GmbH will fully molecularly characterise up to 8000 antibiotic-resistant pathogens from over 35 species using the latest sequencing technology. The institute’s strain bank, which has been running for 20 years and is continually growing, and the environmental databank are fed from various national and international projects and their structure addresses significant resistance problems of today’s inpatient treatments....

Twist Bioscience Corporation, a company enabling customers to succeed through its offering of high-quality synthetic DNA using its silicon platform, has announced that it has been selected as a subcontractor to Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) to undertake the DNA synthesis portion of the Molecular Information Storage (MIST) program through a contract with the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity...

PhoreMost Limited, the UK-based biopharmaceutical company dedicated to drugging ‘undruggable’ disease targets, has announced it has entered into a multi-project drug discovery collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim, one of the world-leading pharmaceutical companies developing innovative therapies for diseases with unsatisfactory treatments. Under the terms of the agreement, PhoreMost will receive an upfront payment and research funding together with downstream success-based milestones....

Eppendorf and the journal Science are now accepting applications for the 2020 Eppendorf & Science Prize for Neurobiology. This annual international research prize of US$25,000 is awarded to young scientists for their outstanding contributions to neurobiological research based on methods of molecular and cell biology. Researchers who are not older than 35 years are invited to apply by June 15, 2020. The winner and finalists are selected by a committee of independent scientists, chaired by Science’s Senior Editor, Dr. Peter Stern.

Associate Prof. Paul Wilmes of the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) at the University of Luxemburg has received a prestigious ERC Consolidator Grant for his project “ExpoBiome”. Within this project, Wilmes will explore the interaction between microbial molecules and the human immune system in patients with Parkinson's disease and rheumatoid arthritis....

A specialist technique used to study drugs has been completed for the first time during an outbreak of Ebola virus disease. The study published in eBiomedicine was a collaboration of researchers from Sierra Leone and the University’s of Glasgow, Oxford, Cambridge and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. It used pharmacokinetics – the measurement of the change in drug concentration in a person over time – to study an experimental drug called TKM-130803 for the treatment of Ebola virus....

A dedicated laboratory air management system, supplied by TROX, has been installed to optimise safety and environmental performance in a major new clinical and research facility. The TROX EASYLAB system, incorporating TROX VAV controllers, specialist filters, grilles and diffusers, will assist Norfolk-based Quadram Institute to meet the stringent requirements for its world-class research....

Micromeritics Instrument Corp., a leader in material characterization technology, is seeing enthusiastic interest from researchers keen to use the new Micromeritics in-situ Catalyst Characterization System (ICCS) to enhance the integrity of heterogeneous catalyst studies by adding new capabilities to existing reaction screening systems. Standard practice is to remove a catalyst from the reactor and transfer it to a separate system for characterization, following reaction, but this risks...

European wheat harvests could be increased by more than 5 tonnes a hectare according to newly published research into the crop’s untapped genetic potential. The first of its kind study from agricultural institute Rothamsted Research shows that in some European countries the grain yield could be increased by up to 90% when compared to typical harvests from today’s commonly used varieties. Yields in the UK could be increased by half as much again....

Collaboration to initially focus on the development and global commercialisation of a suite of CelLuminate dyes, specifically created to revolutionise live cell imaging by enabling cells to remain functional and viable for up to 14 days. Abcam plc, a global innovator in life science reagents and tools, and SomaServe Ltd, a Pharma service and specialist reagent business exploiting PolyNaut® Technology, have announced a partnership to commercialise the cell delivery potential of...