The 2013 Jugend Innovativ competition saw Tecan collaborating with HLFS Ursprung and the Stiegl brewery to optimize the HybriScan™D Beer assay (Sigma-Aldrich) for the quality control of beer on an Infinite^® M200 PRO multimode reader.

Bernhard Stehrer, a science teacher at HLFS Ursprung, explained: “Students voluntarily participate in the prestigious Jugend Innovativ competition during their leisure time, and decided to investigate the science behind the quality control of beer. Stiegl provided samples for analysis and showed us the methods used in its laboratory, which involve assessment of cultures under a microscope. It can take a long time to acquire sufficient experience to confidently assess cultures this way, and we felt that molecular methods might be faster and easier to learn.”...

Quotient Clinical, the Translational Pharmaceutics Company, has announced the extension of its Translational Pharmaceutics™ platform into patient-focused cancer drug development.

Quotient will employ its real-time, flexible manufacturing capabilities to supply specialist oncology centers with drug products to support first-in-patient and proof-of-concept programs. Translational Pharmaceutics integrates real-time drug product manufacturing and clinical testing, using processes that significantly reduce the timelines and cost of early stage drug development....

HORIBA UK Ltd, Medical Division, has introduced a new version of its Quality Slide Program (QSP) service specifically designed to readily meet new CPA guidelines for evaluating and reporting on staff competency and training for blood cell identification in line with ISO 15189. As a unique digital blood cell morphology QC and training program, HORIBA’s QSP also helps to standardise blood film review.

ISO 15189 Medical Laboratory Accreditation is a tool to demonstrate the quality and competence of medical laboratories and ensure delivery of timely and accurate results. Key to this is on-going assessment of laboratory staff technical skills. The new version of HORIBA’s QSP offers enhanced recording of staff competency and training in blood cell identification, where results may sometimes be subjective. Intuitive and easy-to-use, QSP can be fully customised to meet UK working practices...

The Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) has published an updated version of H52-A2—Red Blood Cell Diagnostic Testing Using Flow Cytometry; Approved Guideline—Second Edition.

This standard addresses the diagnostic red blood cell (RBC) assays performed as fluorescence-based assays on a flow cytometry platform; including testing procedures for fetomaternal hemorrhage detection, paroxysmal nocturnal hematuria screening, membrane defect anemia testing for hereditary spherocytosis, and nucleated RBC counting. Points of validation and quality control, and caveats of interpretation are also discussed.

The Département Environnement et Agro-biotechnologies (EVA), of the Centre de Recherche Public - Gabriel Lippmann, Luxembourg, employs NanoSight Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis (NTA) method from Malvern Instruments to perform environmental analysis and toxicological testing of nanoparticles.

Researchers within the EVA department are using the technique of Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis (NTA) for the characterization of nanoparticles within their toxicological studies. A team led by toxicologist Dr. Arno Gutleb is working closely with colleagues in the Département Science et Analyse des Matériaux (SAM) both to characterize the particles that they produce and to investigate the environmental and toxicological impact of these and other nanomaterials.....

The US Federal Drug Administration Gulf Coast Seafood Laboratory has increased the efficiency of preparing its agar plates for microbiological research using an INTEGRA MEDIAJET vario automated petri dish filling system.

Located in Dauphin Island (AL), the FDA’s Gulf Coast Seafood Laboratory (GCSL) site is used by the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) to conduct research programs related to seafood safety, especially seafood harvested from the Gulf of Mexico. The US FDA operates a mandatory safety program for all fish and fishery products under the provisions of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, the Public Health Service Act, and related regulations. The FDA program includes research, inspection, compliance, enforcement, outreach and the development of regulations and industry guidance...

JPK Instruments, a world-leading manufacturer of nanoanalytic instrumentation for research in life sciences and soft matter, reports on the use of the Quantitative Imaging mode for tissue engineering studies at Niigata University. 

Tomoyuki Kawase is an associate professor at the Institute of Medicine and Dentistry at Niigata University. His field of expertise is tissue engineering about which he has published several key papers. Professor Kawase is interested to determine the optimal stiffness or elasticity of cell scaffolding materials. In addition, it is also important to demonstrate dynamic changes in cytoskeletal fiber formation in response to the mechanical property of scaffolds... 

TAP Biosystems is delighted to announce its ambr15 micro bioreactor system is being used at the leading US-based Contract Manufacturing Organisation (CMO), Gallus BioPharmaceuticals, LLC (“Gallus”) to optimise process development and clone selection of novel antibody therapeutics and biosimilars.

Gallus’ scientists are using the ambr15 micro bioreactor in their new, state-of-the-art Process Development facility in St. Louis, Missouri. The system is being used for clone selection programmes to determine which CHO cell lines are stable and produce the highest titre mAbs. They are also using the ambr system to optimise media selection and feed strategies for these mAbs, which are being developed as antibody therapeutics and biosimilars for some of the world’s top pharma and biotech firms...

Planning has been granted by Cambridge City Council for The Forum, an innovative £120 million mixed-use medical and education facility on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus.

The Forum, designed by architects NBBJ, is the product of a pioneering joint venture between John Laing and Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUHT). Consisting of a post-graduate medical education centre, 900 delegate conference centre, 90-bed private hospital, and four-star hotel, The Forum will bring together local, national and international medical professionals, researchers and academics from around the world all focused on the development of life-changing treatments....

Flexible Forward Scatter Technology Enables Advances

MoFlo Astrios EQ, a six-way jet-in-air sorter from Beckman Coulter Life Sciences, delivers patent pending enhanced dual forward scatter (eFSC) technology for simultaneous sorting and detection of particles from 200 nm to 30 µm in diameter. The instrument sets a new standard for flow cytometry core facilities, delivering high-speed cell sorting and micro-particle detection in a single package. Featuring detailed and precise forward scatter resolution, beadless drop sample handling and increased biosafety, Astrios EQ meets a range of analysis needs...

An interdisciplinary team of scientists from KU Leuven in Belgium has developed a new technique to examine how proteins interact with each other at the level of a single HIV viral particle.

The technique allows scientists to study the life-threatening virus in detail and makes screening potential anti-HIV drugs quicker and more efficient. The technique can also be used to study other diseases. Understanding how the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) reproduces itself is crucial in the effort to fight the disease. Upon entering the bloodstream, HIV viral particles, or virions, ‘highjack’ individual immune cells....

Chromatrap®, the novel solid-based matrix for chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays, available from Porvair Sciences, has been successfully used to isolate high quality chromatin from difficult biopsy material.

Focusing on the precipitation of epigenetic marks from primary endometrial stromal cells, researchers have produced excellent enrichment of high abundant epigenetic marks from 1 million cells isolated from a tissue biopsy. The selective enrichment using Chromatrap was highlighted by the selective amplification of both positive and negative gene targets relative to negative IgG. Further the work described demonstrates how the Chromatrap ChIP Assay Kit is able to delineate the balance between active and repressive associated marks and also is compatible with human tissue...

A new white paper from Copley Scientific provides expert guidance on how to use breathing simulators effectively when testing orally inhaled products (OIPs).

Tim Freeman, Managing Director, and Dr Xiaowei Fu, Product Specialist at Freeman Technology, will deliver four oral presentations relating to aspects of powder characterisation and critical powder handling issues at the 7th World Congress on Particle Technology (WCPT7) taking place from 19-22 May 2014 in Beijing, China.

Tim Freeman is an invited speaker at the Particle Design: Formulation and Processing session, where he will present ‘A QbD Approach to Continuous Tablet Manufacture’. This talk will focus on the use of powder characterisation to measure material properties that directly correlate with the quality attributes of a finished product to support the development of continuous processes...

Titan Enterprises reports on the successful application of its flow meters for research by Formula 1© racing teams at their test facilities around the world.

Managing Director of Titan Enterprises – Trevor Forster commented “Flow meters have recently become a hot topic in Formula 1© with one team casting doubt on the approved fuel flow meter (not from Titan) that has to be fitted to every car”.  He added “Because of this negative press we felt it right to share some of the successful implementations of Titan flow metering technology”.....

FLIR Systems has announced that it has been named an Innovation Partner with Infiniti Red Bull Racing.

Thermo Fisher Scientific has developed a method for quantitative determination of over 200 multi-residue pesticides present in a blend of herbs and spices known as “churna”and widely used in Ayurvedic medicine using gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS).

Application Note 10361, Analysis of Multi-Residue Pesticides Present in Ayurvedic Churna by GC-MS/MS describes a sensitive and precise assay for the detection of pesticides. Trace levels of the multi-residue pesticides were detected in the highly complex churna extracts at concentrations as low as 2.5 ng/g. The analysis was performed using a Thermo Scientific™ TRACE™ 1310 GC coupled to a Thermo Scientific™ TSQ 8000™ triple-quadrupole GC-MS/MS.

A new case study has been published by Autoscribe, which highlights how its Matrix Gemini Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) was configured and implemented in just 3 months at global paper supplier, Glatfelter.

Glatfelter’s corporate analytical services group offers a wide range of analytical capabilities with some 15 instruments available. The laboratory performs multiple functions ranging from product development and process improvements to environmental analyses. With the laboratory conducting around 25,000 analyses per year, the major challenge for the LIMS was to manage the workflow for an efficient use of the facilities and a fast turn round of results....

Lactate testing with hematocrit compensation ideal for sports medical health checks

Following the recent launch of its new Lactate Scout+ analyzer incorporating hematocrit compensation, EKF Diagnostics, the global diagnostics business, is seeing an increasing interest from a broad range of users in both sports and medical science. Consequently, EKF has launched a specific product resource website (www.lactatescout.com) housing numerous guides and scientific papers on lactate testing...

ATCC, the premier global biological materials resource and standards organization, announces the expansion of its current solutions for mycoplasma quality control to include quantitative mycoplasma genomic DNA prepared as Certified Reference Materials. 

These preparations support our wide range of quality control products, which include the Universal Mycoplasma Detection Kit and a collection of 10 titered mycoplasma reference strains. ATCC Certified Reference Materials are calibrated to one or more specified properties, making them ideal for use in challenge assays, verifying or comparing test methods, and benchmarking critical assay performance during assay validation or implementation....

A second grant of 230 000 dollars (USD) from the Michael J. Fox Foundation supports further development

Domain Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the research and development of new drug candidates targeting G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), today announces the receipt of a second grant of 230 000dollars (USD) from The Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF) for Parkinson’s Research to support its metabotropic glutamate receptor type III (mGluR3) positive allosteric modulators (PAM) program. The MJFF first supported the initial stages of this program in 2012 through a 300 000 dollars (USD) grant...

Market leaders in temperature controlled microscopy, Linkam Scientific Instruments report on the use of their temperature controlled stages in the authentication of artwork at the Technical University of Denmark.

With the best part of half a million visitors every year, The Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek is the showcase for some of the most important cultural heritage artwork in the whole of Denmark. Established in 1882, it is an internationally renowned museum situated in the heart of the capital city of Copenhagen. The museum is built around the personal collection of art that belonged to Carl Jacobsen, the son of the founder of the Carlsberg Breweries....