Fast and accurate screening for mutations identified in acute myeloid lymphoma using the xGen® Acute Myeloid Lymphoma Panel v1.0

Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT), the world leader in oligonucleotide synthesis, is enabling cancer research with its latest next generation sequencing (NGS) product, the xGen® Acute Myeloid Leukemia Cancer Panel v1.0. Consisting of 11,743 xGen Lockdown® Probes, this cancer panel targets over 260 clinically relevant genes that were found to be mutated in a study of 200 patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and published by The Cancer Genome Atlas consortium. The AML Cancer Panel is used for enriching the genome for regions of interest before performing NGS. It can, therefore, be used to study disease occurrence and progression, and help with the development of better targeted therapies...

Tecan’s newly launched AC Extraction Plate is a revolutionary, automation-friendly solution designed to streamline sample preparation for LC-MS analysis of small molecules.

The plate, which is based on proprietary TICE™ (Tecan Immobilized Coating Extraction) technology, reduces the sample preparation process to a convenient ‘pipette and shake’ routine. The AC Extraction Plate is a 96-position, deep-well microplate, with the inner surface of each well coated with a highly controlled layer of TICE material. This coating efficiently extracts low molecular weight analytes – such as vitamin D and testosterone – from aqueous solutions, eliminating the need for the laborious and time-consuming filtration, centrifugation and evaporation steps that are often integral to other methods....

Major Food Ingredients Firm Chr. Hansen Installs TAP’s Automated Vial Processing System To Meet Increasing Demand for its High Quality Bacterial Starter Cultures.

TAP Biosystems, a leading supplier of innovative cell culture and fermentation systems and consumables for life science applications, is delighted to announce its Fill-It™; automated benchtop vial filling system has been installed at Chr. Hansen, a global bioscience company that develops natural ingredients for the food and nutritional industries. The system, which is being utilised for the first time in the food industry, will be used to improve processing throughput of large batches of vials containing bacterial starter cultures for use in variety of fermented food products. 

Olympus has launched its “Microscope Components for Integration” website, providing equipment manufacturers and system integrators with easy access to expert microscope component solutions for streamlined system development and construction.

When projects call for a high level of technical expertise and consultancy, the Olympus Component Business team (part of Olympus Microscopy) provides personalised component solutions facilitating reduced product development time. The comprehensive range of products and services can now be discovered online with the new “Microscope Components for Integration” website and serve a wide range of markets, including industrial inspection, spectroscopic analysis, metrology, life science and medical analytics...

Double-digit growth in Asia-Pacific and emerging markets to offset stagnation in US and Europe

The global mass spectrometry (MS) market is growing much faster than the high-end analytical instrumentation market. This is a sign that demand is high in this technologically-dynamic market with broad applications and diversified end-user bases despite limited capital budgets in academia and the economic uncertainty in the U.S. and Europe. New analysis from Frost & Sullivan’s Global Mass Spectrometry Market finds the market earned revenue of ....

Ian Samson, EMEA Regional Training Specialist for DuPont, offers his guidance on personal protection when working with cytostatics

According to the World Health Organisation, between now and 2020, the cancer rate will rise by 50%, producing 15 million new cases a year worldwide. As the number of cancer patients rises, so does the use of chemotherapy treatments using cytostatic drugs. While effective in treating disease, these drugs are also potentially hazardous for the oncology nurses, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals who handle them...

University of Aberdeen scientists have shed new light on a 100 year-old argument into whether blindness following a brain injury is absolute.

The findings could pave the way for the development of new technology to support rehabilitation of people who have lost their sight through conditions such as a stroke. The research, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows incidence of blindsight - where a seemingly blind person is able to detect something in their visual field - is significantly more common than previously understood....

Muscular Dystrophy 

Recent research from University of Copenhagen sheds light on previously unknown facts about muscular dystrophy at molecular level. The breakthrough is hoped to improve future diagnosis and treatment of the disease. Researchers have developed a method that will make it easier to map the proteins that have an important kind of sugar monomer, mannose, attached. This is an important finding, as mannose deficiency can lead to diseases such as muscular dystrophy....

Market leaders in temperature controlled microscopy, Linkam Scientific Instruments, report on the use of their innovative CAP500 heating stage for geological research at the new Sanya Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering (SIDSSE) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Founded in 1956, The Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences is devoted to scientific investigation and research on basic, hydro, environmental, and karst geology. Further areas of interest are exploration geophysics and geochemistry; rock and mineral analysis; and efficient mineral resources utilization. A new modern hydrothermal laboratory is being built as part of the new Sanya Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering (SIDSSE), a division of the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences...

Autoscribe has recently conducted a satisfaction survey with its Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS) customers worldwide.

Autoscribe’s CEO, John Boother, said: “Producing management software suitable for use in wide and varied laboratory environments requires much more than just programming skills. We wanted to understand our customers’ feelings about all the aspects of our business, from the sales experience through implementation and support services as well as the quality of the software itself.”..

Clostridium difficile and norovirus appear to be the main causes of concern for infection control professionals as we enter the winter months according to the latest survey.

Conducted at Infection Prevention 2013, the survey revealed that 48% of the respondents highlighted C difficile as the primary cause of concern and 36% highlighted norovirus. Carried out by Bioquell, a provider of no-touch infection control solutions to the healthcare industry, the survey of 170 infection control nurses and senior practitioners were asked to rank various pathogens in order of priority and also indicate any others that they were concerned about....

A recent academic paper published in the journal Organic Process Research and Development by the Group of Prof Steven V. Ley, Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge (UK) outlines a possible breakthrough for the manufacture of breast cancer drug Tamoxifen involving flow chemistry technology developed by UK specialist chemical engineering firm Vapourtec.

A prominent feature in the success of the research carried out, profiled in the article “Continuous flow-processing of organometallic reagents using an advanced peristaltic pumping system and the telescoped flow synthesis of (E/Z)-tamoxifen”, was the use of Vapourtec’s E-Series flow chemistry system that enables the processing of organometallic reagents....

Developed as an alternative to B27® * - GS21 from AMSBIO is a next generation serum-free neural media supplement, based on the formulation of NS21 Supplement, designed to improve the overall growth and performance of primary neurons.

GS21 has been specifically optimized for the maturation and long-term viability of primary rat and mouse neurons in culture, without the need for co-culture with astrocyte feeder cells. In experimental tests, GS21 has been shown to significantly improve long-term viability of rat and mouse primary neurons in vitro, as well as enhance neurite outgrowth of primary neurons in culture. Beneficially, GS21 also supports growth and maintenance of primary neurons at low or high cell density plating...

Analytik, leading suppliers of innovative analytical instrumentation, report on the use of the ASD LabSpec portable NIR spectroscopy system in the Centre for Sustainable Heritage at UCL.

They use the system for the scientific research of historic objects as part of a project with a prestigious group of European institutions, the work of which has been published by the Royal Society of Chemistry in Analytical Methods. The Centre for Sustainable Heritage is part of University College London, a leading academic research institution.....

High profile group members drawn from research and industry

AMSBIO has announced a new on-demand webinar entitled 'CometAssay: Detecting single and double strand DNA breaks in individual cells'. 

Detecting single and double strand DNA breaks in individual cells'. Presented by Dr Sandra Woodgate, a Subject Matter Expert for this technique., this informative webinar explores how the Comet Assay quantitates DNA damage and repair from in vivo and in vitro samples of eukaryotic cells. The comet assay or single cell gel electrophoresis (SCGE) is a technique to easily and rapidly detect and quantitate DNA fragmentation associated with DNA damage caused by apoptosis and cytotoxicity....

French government funding confirms the considerable potential of Nosopharm’s new class of antibiotics and ensures their progression to regulatory preclinical development  

Nosopharm specializes in the research and development of new anti-infective drugs, today announces that it has secured funding of EUR 870,000 (USD 1.18 million). The company is receiving this funding as part of the OOPERA project (Odilorhabdin: Preclinical optimization and study to combat antibiotic resistance), which commenced in the first quarter of 2013 and is scheduled to last three years. A total of EUR 1.6 million (USD 2.2 million) in funding has been allocated to this project...

Photon Control Inc. is pleased to announce that their research and development partner Photon Control R&D Ltd. has received an NSERCC (Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council of Canada) Engage Grant with the University of Victoria to work in Collaboration with Dr. Alexandre G. Brolo and team on research of Raman Spectroscopy.

Dr. Alexandre G. Brolo (UVic Chemistry) is a specialist in nanomaterial’s and is world-renowned in the field of Raman spectroscopy, especially in surface-enhanced Raman scattering. Dr. Brolo says, "collaborating with a local B.C. company provides a valuable learning opportunity to the University for applying research to a practical problem, which could make a positive impact to society in the future.”..

Improve detection of ‘Winter Bugs’ with DiaSorin nucleic acid extraction kits

DiaSorin LIAISON^® Ixt / Arrow BUGS’n BEADS™ extraction kits provide high yield, high purity nucleic acid preparations for sensitive and accurate molecular identification of norovirus and Mycoplasma pneumonia. As winter approaches, clinical laboratories are preparing for an increase in test requests for certain seasonal pathogens, such as norovirus and Mycoplasma pneumonia.  The DiaSorin BUGS’n BEADS™ nucleic acid extraction kits, for use with the automated DiaSorin LIAISON^® Ixt / Arrow™ instruments, provide a highly purified nucleic acid preparation from patient samples for sensitive and accurate molecular confirmation of these microorganisms¹...

NORTH West pharmaceutical company Proveca Limited has reached a key agreement with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) that will enable the development of a new drug designed for children and young people.

The EMA’s Paediatric Committee (PDCO) adopted a positive opinion on the paediatric investigation plan (PIP) for the development of Glycopyrronium – a drug designed to combat chronic pathological drooling (sialorrhoea) in children. Children living with motor or neurological disorders, such as cerebral palsy, are often unable to effectively swallow the saliva they produce resulting in unavoidable chronic drooling. Glycopyrronium will help to reduce this unintentional and disabling loss of saliva...

NEW Application of TAP’s ambr Microscale Bioreactor as Perfusion Mimic Offers Rapid Method Development of Large Scale Perfusion Culture Processes

TAP Biosystems, a leading supplier of innovative cell culture and consumables for life science, today announced a new application of its ambr™ micro bioreactor system as a perfusion mimic, enabling scientists to rapidly and easily develop large scale perfusion culture processes of unstable, low producing or minimally expressing proteins or antibodies. The ambr system has been utilised as a semi-continuous chemostat model for perfusion culture in 10-15mL micro bioreactors by utilising the ambr workstation’s integrated cell counter to monitor cell density and calculate both cell growth rates and dilution volumes required to maintain stable cell density. The ambr’s automated liquid handling performs these dilutions at appropriate time points, thus automatically refining chemostasis throughout the culture process...