The rapid development of viable inkjet technology for highly specialised applications, such as printing human cells, continues to generate significant interest.
If successful, the realisation of this technology for specialised biological applications, generally known as ‘biofabrication’, has the potential to replace the long established (and often controversial) process of using animals for testing new drugs. However, there are many challenges to overcome to enable the successful production of a valve-based cell printer for the formation of human embryonic stem cell spheroid aggregates. For example, printing techniques need to be...
The WHO Regional Office for Europe calls on policy-makers, health care workers and parents immediately to step up vaccination against measles across age groups at risk.
This will help to put an end to the outbreaks occurring in countries in the WHO European Region and to prevent similar outbreaks in the future. Seven countries in the Region have reported 22,149 cases of measles in 2014 and thus far in 2015. This threatens the Region’s goal of eliminating the disease by the end of 2015. Even though measles cases fell by 50% from 2013 to 2014, large outbreaks continue...
Researchers have long sought an efficient way to untangle DNA in order to study its structure – neatly unraveled and straightened out – under a microscope.
Now, chemists and engineers at KU Leuven, in Belgium, have devised a strikingly simple and effective solution: they inject genetic material into a droplet of water and use a pipet tip to drag it over a glass plate covered with a sticky polymer. The droplet rolls like a ball over the plate, sticking the DNA to the plate surface. The unraveled DNA can then be studied under a microscope. The researchers described the technique in...
Forensics Europe Expo taking place on 21-22 April 2015 is the only dedicated international exhibition and conference connecting the entire forensic community. The event is the meeting place for professionals involved in forensics, from crime scene to the court room.
Melbourne-based Genera Biosystems has been testing a HydroSpeed™ plate washer with its Sirocco™ multiplexed diagnostics automation platform, allowing rapid, efficient washing of its proprietary AmpaSand™ beads.
Karl Poetter, Chief Scientific Officer, explained: "Following PCR, AmpaSand plates are spun down to remove the supernatant, then washed to remove unbound reagents or PCR products prior to flow cytometry analysis. Manual bead washing is tedious and error-prone, and so we wanted to automate the post-PCR washing steps to provide the accuracy and reliability necessary for diagnostic applications. We needed an automated 96-channel plate washer that offered effective removal of unincorporated primers and reagents without disturbing the pellet, and the HydroSpeed washer from Tecan was the only system that met our specifications....
Read MoreSeward Stomacher Used for Large Scale Campylobacter StudyMar 24, 2015
UK Food Standards Agency report demonstrates risk of Campylobacter contamination in all chilled chickens at retail sale
Seward Ltd., manufacturer of the world leading range of original Stomacher® paddle blenders and accessories used in sample preparation for microbiological analysis, announces the use of its Stomacher® technology for the preparation of samples for a UK-wide Campylobacter study. Foodborne Campylobacter makes over 280,000 people ill each year in the UK alone and is one of the main bacterial causes of food poisoning globally...
Selah Genomics, Greenville Health System, DecisionQ Corporation and BD working together to “democratize genetic medicine”
EKF Diagnostics subsidiary, Selah Genomics, has announced a major, four-way collaboration with Greenville Health System (GHS, South Carolina), DecisionQ Corporation (Virginia), and BD (Becton Dickinson and Company, New Jersey). Expected to last 18 months, the collaboration aims to unite classic clinical annotations with proprietary next generation sequencing (NGS) technology and artificial intelligence-based decision...
The Pipetting Cycle is part of a series of tutorial videos; this first tutorial demonstrates the five distinct steps of pipetting and how to do them correctly. These have been created as part of Anachem's Good Pipetting Practice Programme (GPP).
The majority of scientists will agree that pipetting is normally the most frequently practiced activity in the lab. The accuracy and precision of pipettes is vital for producing good quality results. However it is not just the pipette that needs to be considered when evaluating the accuracy of experimental data. There are a number of factors that can influence the accuracy, quality and reproducibility of the generated data, including pipetting skill, pipette maintenance and calibration....
Metrohm USA and Metrohm Canada are pleased to announce the winner of the 2015 Young Chemist Award, Chad Atkins.
Chad is completing his Ph.D. at the University of British Columbia where he works under the supervision of Robin Turner and Michael Blades. Chad’s research uses Raman spectroscopy to assess the degradation of stored red blood cells to measure age-related changes in stored cell breakdown. By measuring samples through the storage bag the possibility of contamination is reduced. Confirming the viability of stored red blood cells...
Discover a unique and engaging approach to training for the chance to win a free e-learning course
Pharmaceutical Training International (PTI), the leading supplier of online and public, event-based training courses for the pharma, biotech and medical device sectors, has launched a range of game-based e-learning courses. PTI’s unique game-based modules offer new interactive approaches using both 2D and 3D interactive environments. Users will benefit from a more engaging, entertaining and cost-saving method of acquiring...
Close competition encourages established manufacturers to broaden the drug pipeline for targeted therapies, finds Frost & Sullivan
Although lung cancer is the third most prevalent cancer type in the world, there are only 18 drugs in the market for its treatment. Further, popular drugs such as Almita and Avastin are nearing their patent expiry in 2015 and 2017 respectively. As such, the lung cancer therapeutics market offers vast potential that drug manufacturers are vying to tap into. Approximately 130 drugs for the treatment of small cell lung cancer...
Scientists have developed a new test which can predict the survival chances of women with breast cancer by analysing images of ‘hotspots’ where there has been a fierce immune reaction to a tumour.
Researchers used statistical software previously used in criminology studies of crime hotspots to track the extent to which the immune system was homing in and attacking breast cancer cells. The test, described today (Friday) in the journal Modern Pathology, could assess whether a woman’s immune system is holding a cancer at bay – and pick out those who will need intensive treatment to combat their more aggressive disease...
Changing the shape of breast cancer cells could make the disease more sensitive to treatments – even driving the body’s own inflammatory response against a tumour – a new study shows.
Scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, showed that the shape of a tumour cell is an important factor in determining its response to inflammatory molecules, which can either promote or inhibit cancer progression. The research used robotic microscopy and automated algorithms, similar to those used by Facebook for facial recognition, to measure the shape of hundreds of thousands of different breast cancer cells...
The Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) has published Mass Spectrometry for Androgen and Estrogen Measurements in Serum (C57-Ed1).
This document is intended to aid the laboratorian in developing appropriate procedures for the use of mass spectrometry in the measurement of androgens and estrogens. C57 provides details specific to androgen and estrogen measurement procedures with respect to preexamination (preanalytical) considerations, mass spectrometry (MS) technologies, measurement procedure and run validation, as well as postexamination...
JPK Instruments, a world-leading manufacturer of nanoanalytic instrumentation for research in life sciences and soft matter, reports on the use of their NanoTracker™ optical tweezers system to study collagen fibrils at Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago.
The Schieber Research Group is led by Jay Schieber, Professor of Chemical Engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology where he is also Director of the Center for Molecular Study of Condensed Soft Matter. Current research focuses on the kinetic theory of macromolecules to model the rheological, thermodynamic and thermal behaviour of polymeric fluids. These models are then used to predict the properties of advanced materials during and after processing...
Read MoreAnalytik Discuss the Schmidt + Haensch ATR Touch Series of Refractometers for Refractive Index MeasurementsMar 20, 2015
Analytik, leading suppliers of innovative analytical instrumentation, supply the Schmidt + Haensch's market leading polarimeters and refractometers in the UK & Ireland.
Schmidt + Haensch's automatic digital refractometers, supplied by Analytik, are high performance critical angle refractometers, which feature unique technology and integrated Peltier thermostats for qualitative and quantitative materials analysis for industrial and manufacturing use. Two models are available: ATR-B and ATR-F depending on the users’ requirements. This series can use S+H's innovative L-Display as well as operating...
High performance liquid chromatography requires extremely accurate pumping systems delivering an accurate, precise and pulse-free flow of the mobile phase.
An HPLC pump system is a complex device with multiple moving parts subject to wear. Standard operating procedures should be in place to both minimize wear such as caused by particulate matter settling in valves and other components, and having spares on hand to replace components subject to wear (i.e. valves, piston and piston seal components). As one of many maintenance steps it is always a good idea to flush your HPLC system with rinse solvents after analysis with...
Exeter Analytical Inc. has developed proprietary techniques based on their Model 440 CHN analyzer to enable accurate determination of percentage Carbon (C) and Hydrogen (H) in carbon fibre composite materials.
Benefiting from their unique strength to weight ratio and rigidity, the use of carbon fibre reinforced materials (composites) in aerospace, automotive, firearms, marine and sports equipment manufacture has rapidly expanded. With this rapid growth in use comes the need for accurate carbon fibre composite materials determination. Carbon fibres are extremely difficult to completely combust and therefore analyze due to their very high...
Testing breast cancer cells for how closely they resemble stem cells could identify women with the most aggressive disease, a new study suggests.
Researchers found that breast cancers with a similar pattern of gene activity to that of adult stem cells had a high chance of spreading to other parts of the body. Assessing a breast cancer’s pattern of activity in these stem cell genes has the potential to identify women who might need intensive treatment to prevent their disease recurring or spreading, the researchers said. Adult stem cells are healthy cells within the body which have not...
Biopharma Process Systems has written a free guide which provides a grounding in the science, tips on avoiding common evaporation mistakes, and a look at the latest developments in evaporation technology.
Solvent removal by evaporation is an essential process for sample preparation. Many sample formats and solvents are used with no single technique providing a universal solutions. Despite the variety if specifics evaporation is well-understood and relatively uncomplicated. But while it’s vital to so many applications it’s rare to find an evaporation expert in a laboratory, and many facilities use systems that are slow and cumbersome simply because they have always been used....
XEI Scientific Inc. reports a new publication from their user group at the Ming Hseih Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles.
Deben, leading providers of in-situ testing stages together with innovative accessories and components for electron microscopy, report on the research of Professors Duncan Bassett and Graham Williams who are applying BSE-SEM imaging to identify genetic determinants of bone and cartilage disorders.
Professors Duncan Bassett and Graham Williams are Endocrinologists at Imperial College London and Consultant Physicians at the Hammersmith Hospital specialising in Metabolic Bone Disease and Thyroid Disease respectively. They are also the Principal Investigators in the Molecular Endocrinology Laboratory in the Department of Medicine at Imperial College London. Their current research focuses on the molecular basis of bone and cartilage disease....
If successful, the realisation of this technology for specialised biological applications, generally known as ‘biofabrication’, has the potential to replace the long established (and often controversial) process of using animals for testing new drugs. However, there are many challenges to overcome to enable the successful production of a valve-based cell printer for the formation of human embryonic stem cell spheroid aggregates. For example, printing techniques need to be...
This will help to put an end to the outbreaks occurring in countries in the WHO European Region and to prevent similar outbreaks in the future. Seven countries in the Region have reported 22,149 cases of measles in 2014 and thus far in 2015. This threatens the Region’s goal of eliminating the disease by the end of 2015. Even though measles cases fell by 50% from 2013 to 2014, large outbreaks continue...
Now, chemists and engineers at KU Leuven, in Belgium, have devised a strikingly simple and effective solution: they inject genetic material into a droplet of water and use a pipet tip to drag it over a glass plate covered with a sticky polymer. The droplet rolls like a ball over the plate, sticking the DNA to the plate surface. The unraveled DNA can then be studied under a microscope. The researchers described the technique in...
Seward Ltd., manufacturer of the world leading range of original Stomacher® paddle blenders and accessories used in sample preparation for microbiological analysis, announces the use of its Stomacher® technology for the preparation of samples for a UK-wide Campylobacter study. Foodborne Campylobacter makes over 280,000 people ill each year in the UK alone and is one of the main bacterial causes of food poisoning globally...
EKF Diagnostics subsidiary, Selah Genomics, has announced a major, four-way collaboration with Greenville Health System (GHS, South Carolina), DecisionQ Corporation (Virginia), and BD (Becton Dickinson and Company, New Jersey). Expected to last 18 months, the collaboration aims to unite classic clinical annotations with proprietary next generation sequencing (NGS) technology and artificial intelligence-based decision...
Chad is completing his Ph.D. at the University of British Columbia where he works under the supervision of Robin Turner and Michael Blades. Chad’s research uses Raman spectroscopy to assess the degradation of stored red blood cells to measure age-related changes in stored cell breakdown. By measuring samples through the storage bag the possibility of contamination is reduced. Confirming the viability of stored red blood cells...
Pharmaceutical Training International (PTI), the leading supplier of online and public, event-based training courses for the pharma, biotech and medical device sectors, has launched a range of game-based e-learning courses. PTI’s unique game-based modules offer new interactive approaches using both 2D and 3D interactive environments. Users will benefit from a more engaging, entertaining and cost-saving method of acquiring...
Although lung cancer is the third most prevalent cancer type in the world, there are only 18 drugs in the market for its treatment. Further, popular drugs such as Almita and Avastin are nearing their patent expiry in 2015 and 2017 respectively. As such, the lung cancer therapeutics market offers vast potential that drug manufacturers are vying to tap into. Approximately 130 drugs for the treatment of small cell lung cancer...
Researchers used statistical software previously used in criminology studies of crime hotspots to track the extent to which the immune system was homing in and attacking breast cancer cells. The test, described today (Friday) in the journal Modern Pathology, could assess whether a woman’s immune system is holding a cancer at bay – and pick out those who will need intensive treatment to combat their more aggressive disease...
This document is intended to aid the laboratorian in developing appropriate procedures for the use of mass spectrometry in the measurement of androgens and estrogens. C57 provides details specific to androgen and estrogen measurement procedures with respect to preexamination (preanalytical) considerations, mass spectrometry (MS) technologies, measurement procedure and run validation, as well as postexamination...
Schmidt + Haensch's automatic digital refractometers, supplied by Analytik, are high performance critical angle refractometers, which feature unique technology and integrated Peltier thermostats for qualitative and quantitative materials analysis for industrial and manufacturing use. Two models are available: ATR-B and ATR-F depending on the users’ requirements. This series can use S+H's innovative L-Display as well as operating...
An HPLC pump system is a complex device with multiple moving parts subject to wear. Standard operating procedures should be in place to both minimize wear such as caused by particulate matter settling in valves and other components, and having spares on hand to replace components subject to wear (i.e. valves, piston and piston seal components). As one of many maintenance steps it is always a good idea to flush your HPLC system with rinse solvents after analysis with...
Benefiting from their unique strength to weight ratio and rigidity, the use of carbon fibre reinforced materials (composites) in aerospace, automotive, firearms, marine and sports equipment manufacture has rapidly expanded. With this rapid growth in use comes the need for accurate carbon fibre composite materials determination. Carbon fibres are extremely difficult to completely combust and therefore analyze due to their very high...
Solvent removal by evaporation is an essential process for sample preparation. Many sample formats and solvents are used with no single technique providing a universal solutions. Despite the variety if specifics evaporation is well-understood and relatively uncomplicated. But while it’s vital to so many applications it’s rare to find an evaporation expert in a laboratory, and many facilities use systems that are slow and cumbersome simply because they have always been used....
