Majority of SelectScience members voted for ZEISS light sheet microscope system
At the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2013 in Washington, D.C., USA, SelectScience announced that ZEISS Lightsheet Z.1 has been awarded with the Best New Life Science Product of 2012 by members of SelectScience. The winning product is recognized as having significantly contributed towards laboratory efforts in 2012...
Read MoreRoche and BioLamina Start Collaboration to Develop Novel Cell Culture SystemsApr 12, 2013
Roche and BioLamina, Stockholm, Sweden today announced the signing of a research and development agreement to jointly develop new cell culture systems for various applications, including stem cell research
The collaboration will focus on assessing laminin-based in-vitro cell culture matrices offering highly physiological microenvironments for living cells. Under the terms of the agreement Roche will provide R&D funding and scientific expertise to BioLamina. Financial details were not disclosed. Laminins are proteins located in the extracellular matrix providing the stability essential for cell growth and behaviour. They are the only protein group in this environment that have a tissue-specific distribution, including expression of specific laminins during embryonic development. This makes them a very interesting target for new biologically relevant cell culturing techniques...
Market leaders in temperature controlled microscopy, Linkam Scientific Instruments report on the use of the popular THMS600 heating stage for liquid crystal research at the University of the Free State, Republic of South Africa
Researchers in the physical chemistry department of the University of the Orange Free State (UFS) have examined the discotic liquid crystal properties of a number of long chain metal free and zinc phthalocyanines using the Linkam THMS600 hot stage. Phthalocyanines are aromatic compounds, with a variable length carbon chain, produced when the phthalocyanine molecule reacts with metals to form brightly colored complexes. These metal and non-metal derivatives are used for many applications, with new uses being continuously developed. They are found in dyes, chemical sensors, catalysts, non-linear optical materials and have been used for photodynamic cancer treatments....
Read MoreNew Oxford Biotech Launches Cloning Platform that Promises to Transform Synthetic Biology and Genetic EngineeringApr 11, 2013
Oxfordshire’s newest biotechnology company, Oxford Genetics Ltd, has developed an innovative range of synthetic DNA products that are set to revolutionise the genetic research sector
The new technology, called SnapFastTM, provides a fully interchangeable module based genetic engineering platform that offers research scientists unrivalled efficiency and flexibility. Managing Director of Oxford Genetics, Dr Ryan Cawood who invented the system describes the cloning platform as “Lego for DNA”. Dr Cawood explains how it works, “Historically, most genetic engineering has been performed with pieces of DNA, gathered from a variety of sources that were never intended to fit together. This can often make genetic engineering time-consuming and frustrating. What we are doing at Oxford Genetics is providing all of the standard DNA components that researchers use on a regular basis, and putting them into a compatible and ‘easy to clone’ format.”....
Read MoreIdentical twinsApr 10, 2013
A unique study sequencing the entire genomes of identical twins with leukaemia has identified the first mutations sparking the disease in the mother’s womb
The research, largely funded by Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research and conducted at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, has uncovered clues to the origins of childhood leukaemia in two pairs of identical twins. Scientists believe these early genetic origins of childhood leukaemia could be ideal targets for new cancer drugs, because they represent mutations present in every single cancer cell, playing a major role in the development of the disease....
HiSeq and Biomek platforms support a complete RNA-Seq solution
High throughput end-to-end RNA-Seq Service from Beckman Coulter Genomics includes customized project design, automated Illumina* TruSeq* RNA-Seq library construction and flexible, multiplexed sequencing on the Illumina HiSeq platform. Downstream bioinformatics analysis options include primary data analysis, differential gene expression, splice variant analysis, gene fusion identi?cation and rare transcript identi?cation...
It is with much sadness that we write to inform you that Bernie finally lost his battle with a liver condition, with which he had been suffering for the past few years, and died on Saturday evening at around 8:30pm in the UK. The effects of the liver disease had become more pronounced in recent months and, despite various medical attempts to try and treat him, the condition worsened and also started to affect his other major organs. Bernie died peacefully, his wife Jude and son Kevin were with him....
Frances Buck, Director of Researchfish, responds to Science and Universities Minister David Willetts’ announcement of £85 million for research in new technologies
“Today’s announcement demonstrates the Government’s commitment to promoting scientific research - a crucial priority for securing the UK’s high-tech future. At the same time, in the context of increasingly tight and competing budgets, the pressure for accountability in research continues to grow....
The only thing better than our 405™ Touch Microplate Washer with Verify™ Technology is winning a FREE one! Enter to win from April 1 to June 30, 2013 by visiting the Biotek website. Only one entry per person will be accepted, and the winner will be randomly drawn from all global entries
The 405 Touch Microplate Washer offers flexible microplate washing with a high-resolution color touch screen interface for fast, easy protocol creation. 405 Touch is compatible with 96- and 384 well microplates, and features automated internal buffer switching and flow rates from aggressive to gentle – ideal for loosely adherent cell monolayers. Two integrated USB ports allow multiple users to create, store and transfer their specific washing protocols....
A Scottish-based company is reaping the rewards of being in the front line of the UK's defences against food contamination following a period of unprecedented demand during the ongoing horsemeat scandal
R-Biopharm Rhône, the manufacturer and Scotland's biggest exporter of diagnostic test kits, has seen both the number of tests it carries out and the number of kits it sells to other laboratories increase dramatically as companies scrambled to make sure their meat products were safe...
Read MoreSeraCare Introduces New Seroconversion Panels for Hepatitis B and HIVApr 5, 2013
SeraCare Life Sciences, a portfolio company of Linden Capital Partners serving the in vitro diagnostics and clinical laboratory markets, today announced it has launched three new seroconversion panels that provide difficult-to-find patient samples for Hepatitis B and HIV. The company’s newest offerings expand its robust line of seroconversion panels focusing on infectious disease
“SeraCare recognizes the challenges our customers face in testing their assays rigorously while meeting complex and evolving regulatory requirements,” said John Wyatt, Director, Research Business Unit at SeraCare. “To provide our customers with the most innovative solutions, SeraCare continually enhances our infectious disease panels to deliver the unique patient samples they need to thoroughly challenge their assays.” The company’s unrivaled global sourcing network places it in a unique position to find and source these distinct patient samples....
Read MoreSpectro Inc. Wins U.S. Patent on Flip-Top Sample Head For Spectroscopic AnalyzersApr 5, 2013
Spectro Inc., a global supplier of oil and fuel analysis instruments to industry and the military, has been awarded a U.S. patent for an innovative flip- top sample head for infrared spectrometers used in fluids analysis
Compared to conventional flow-through cells, the patented head’s flip-top cell improves convenience and efficiency while enabling rapid, precise, quantitative sample analysis. Unlike an enclosed flow-through cell, the flip-top cell features two separable hinged plates. After a sample is placed on one plate window, the plates are coupled together to define a sample chamber with a predetermined thickness, maintaining the fixed path distance necessary for accurate spectroscopic analysis...
Based on customer demand Waters Corporation today announced improvements to the Waters Alliance HPLC System. The updated system will maintain key Alliance performance specifications and control algorithms to ensure that analysts can seamlessly replicate their existing methods
“The Alliance HPLC System has been the benchmark for HPLC in the laboratory for nearly two decades. Because of its dependability, high quality and flexible operation, tens of thousands of these systems are used every day to run methods varying from USP monographs to polymer analyses,” said Ian King, Vice President of Separation Technologies for the Waters Division. “Since its introduction, the Alliance HPLC System has been continually enhanced accommodating an enormous range of separation challenge...
Read MoreMalvernApr 4, 2013
Dr E. Neil Lewis, Chief Technology Officer at Malvern Instruments, was one of four invited speakers at The Twenty-Fourth James L. Waters Annual Symposium which took place at Pittcon 2013 in March and which this year celebrated the commercialization of chemical imaging
As pioneers in the field, Dr Lewis and his fellow speakers (Drs. Patrick J. Treado; Richard Crocombe; Joachim Koenen) discussed the development of chemical imaging and the scientific advances it has made possible, while exploring the current status of the technique and looking forward to what the future holds....
SciGene (Sunnyvale, CA) and BioDot, Inc. (Irvine, CA) have announced at the American College of Medical Genetics Meeting (ACMG) in Phoenix, AZ an agreement whereby BioDot would have exclusive rights to market and sell SciGene’s Little Dipper® Processor for FISH (fluorescence in situ hybridization) to cytogenetic labs worldwide
The SciGene instrument automates the processing of tissue and cell samples used in a variety of cytogenetic tests. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Together, BioDot and SciGene combine effectively to bring world-class automation solutions to the global cytogenetics market. Jim Stanchfield, Ph.D., President and CEO of SciGene commented, “We are very excited about our new relationship with BioDot which greatly enhances the delivery of our automation technology to customers around the globe.”...
Renowned industry experts to advise Definiens on clinical digital pathology market
Definiens, the global leader of image and data analysis solutions for quantitative digital pathology, today announced it has appointed an Advisory Board comprising renowned industry experts and visionaries in digital pathology. As part of its market expansion strategy, Definiens established the new Board to provide independent advice on trends and opportunities in tissue diagnostics and clinical digital pathology...
Carbolite will exhibit furnaces and ovens for laboratory applications at POWTECH 2013 (23 – 25 April 2013. Exhibition Centre, Nüremberg, Germany)
These will include heat-treatment instruments such as CWF Laboratory chamber furnaces (1100°C, 1200°C and 1300°C) and the 250°C Apex range fan convection laboratory oven (AX). Specialists from the Carbolite GmbH team will be available throughout the show to discuss individual requirements and applications for their standard and bespoke systems...
Construction of Liverpool Science Park’s (LSP) £8m third building at the heart of Liverpool’s Knowledge Quarter is underway
Innovation Centre 3 (ic3) will provide 42,000 sq ft of additional office and laboratory space to accompany the two buildings already at the park, which are now more than 90 per cent occupied. The state-of-the-art, four floor building will be constructed over the existing car park of Innovation Centre 1 (ic1) off Mount Pleasant and a double storey-bridge will link it to the ic1 building. It will include flexible office space, fully serviced biology and chemistry laboratories, meeting rooms and under-croft car parking...
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., the world leader in serving science, recently launched a business mentoring project with local sixth form students
The ‘Mission to Mars’ project will give the students chance to design and promote their own interactive display, to promote innovative laboratory products alongside leading industry suppliers at Science World 2013. 14 students from Delisle College in Loughborough will work with members of the Fisher Scientific marketing and promotions team, to hone their creative and business skills and gain valuable experience in the commercial world...
The European Patent Office has issued a European Patent to Dr. Harald Hess and Dr. Eric Betzig for their invention of super-resolution Photo Activated Localization Microscopy (PAL-M)
Based on the same invention, several patents were issued in the years from 2009 to 2011 by the US Patent Office.The patent EP 1894010 B1, whose issue was announced on 27 February 2013, protects methods as well as devices for PAL-M. The basic idea of the invention is that only a low number of fluorescent dye molecules in a sample may be activated and excited to fluoresce at a time. This enables the physical position of these individual fluorescent molecules to be exactly determined to within a few nanometers....
Applied StemCell, Inc. (ASC) announced today it has signed a strategic agreement with Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE: CRL) for the distribution of ASC’s genetically modified TARGATT™ mouse. With this agreement, Charles River becomes the worldwide distributor of the TARGATT™ (FVB) mouse. ASC’s IP based technology
TARGATT™ allows a gene of interest to be stably integrated into a well-characterized, transcriptionally-active locus in the mouse genome with guaranteed transgene expression. With the TARGATT™ (FVB) mouse and transgenic kit (available from ASC), researchers are able to generate a site-specific knock-in mouse in as fast as 3 months...
Malvern Instruments, a company keen to share its new technology for microrheology, is sponsoring the 8th Annual European Rheology Conference which takes place in Leuven, Belgium, 2nd to 5th April 2013
Expert rheologists from Malvern will be in attendance throughout the event, and on display will be the Kinexus, a high performance rotational rheometer that enables advanced shear and vertical testing, and the Zetasizer Nano ZSP, a premium light scattering system with microrheology capability.The conference brings together leading rheologists from around the world for four days of lectures and seminars. Microrheology, a relatively new technique, is sure to be a popular topic for discussion...
At the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2013 in Washington, D.C., USA, SelectScience announced that ZEISS Lightsheet Z.1 has been awarded with the Best New Life Science Product of 2012 by members of SelectScience. The winning product is recognized as having significantly contributed towards laboratory efforts in 2012...
The collaboration will focus on assessing laminin-based in-vitro cell culture matrices offering highly physiological microenvironments for living cells. Under the terms of the agreement Roche will provide R&D funding and scientific expertise to BioLamina. Financial details were not disclosed. Laminins are proteins located in the extracellular matrix providing the stability essential for cell growth and behaviour. They are the only protein group in this environment that have a tissue-specific distribution, including expression of specific laminins during embryonic development. This makes them a very interesting target for new biologically relevant cell culturing techniques...
Researchers in the physical chemistry department of the University of the Orange Free State (UFS) have examined the discotic liquid crystal properties of a number of long chain metal free and zinc phthalocyanines using the Linkam THMS600 hot stage. Phthalocyanines are aromatic compounds, with a variable length carbon chain, produced when the phthalocyanine molecule reacts with metals to form brightly colored complexes. These metal and non-metal derivatives are used for many applications, with new uses being continuously developed. They are found in dyes, chemical sensors, catalysts, non-linear optical materials and have been used for photodynamic cancer treatments....
The new technology, called SnapFastTM, provides a fully interchangeable module based genetic engineering platform that offers research scientists unrivalled efficiency and flexibility. Managing Director of Oxford Genetics, Dr Ryan Cawood who invented the system describes the cloning platform as “Lego for DNA”. Dr Cawood explains how it works, “Historically, most genetic engineering has been performed with pieces of DNA, gathered from a variety of sources that were never intended to fit together. This can often make genetic engineering time-consuming and frustrating. What we are doing at Oxford Genetics is providing all of the standard DNA components that researchers use on a regular basis, and putting them into a compatible and ‘easy to clone’ format.”....
The research, largely funded by Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research and conducted at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, has uncovered clues to the origins of childhood leukaemia in two pairs of identical twins. Scientists believe these early genetic origins of childhood leukaemia could be ideal targets for new cancer drugs, because they represent mutations present in every single cancer cell, playing a major role in the development of the disease....
High throughput end-to-end RNA-Seq Service from Beckman Coulter Genomics includes customized project design, automated Illumina* TruSeq* RNA-Seq library construction and flexible, multiplexed sequencing on the Illumina HiSeq platform. Downstream bioinformatics analysis options include primary data analysis, differential gene expression, splice variant analysis, gene fusion identi?cation and rare transcript identi?cation...
It is with much sadness that we write to inform you that Bernie finally lost his battle with a liver condition, with which he had been suffering for the past few years, and died on Saturday evening at around 8:30pm in the UK. The effects of the liver disease had become more pronounced in recent months and, despite various medical attempts to try and treat him, the condition worsened and also started to affect his other major organs. Bernie died peacefully, his wife Jude and son Kevin were with him....
“Today’s announcement demonstrates the Government’s commitment to promoting scientific research - a crucial priority for securing the UK’s high-tech future. At the same time, in the context of increasingly tight and competing budgets, the pressure for accountability in research continues to grow....
The 405 Touch Microplate Washer offers flexible microplate washing with a high-resolution color touch screen interface for fast, easy protocol creation. 405 Touch is compatible with 96- and 384 well microplates, and features automated internal buffer switching and flow rates from aggressive to gentle – ideal for loosely adherent cell monolayers. Two integrated USB ports allow multiple users to create, store and transfer their specific washing protocols....
R-Biopharm Rhône, the manufacturer and Scotland's biggest exporter of diagnostic test kits, has seen both the number of tests it carries out and the number of kits it sells to other laboratories increase dramatically as companies scrambled to make sure their meat products were safe...
“SeraCare recognizes the challenges our customers face in testing their assays rigorously while meeting complex and evolving regulatory requirements,” said John Wyatt, Director, Research Business Unit at SeraCare. “To provide our customers with the most innovative solutions, SeraCare continually enhances our infectious disease panels to deliver the unique patient samples they need to thoroughly challenge their assays.” The company’s unrivaled global sourcing network places it in a unique position to find and source these distinct patient samples....
Compared to conventional flow-through cells, the patented head’s flip-top cell improves convenience and efficiency while enabling rapid, precise, quantitative sample analysis. Unlike an enclosed flow-through cell, the flip-top cell features two separable hinged plates. After a sample is placed on one plate window, the plates are coupled together to define a sample chamber with a predetermined thickness, maintaining the fixed path distance necessary for accurate spectroscopic analysis...
“The Alliance HPLC System has been the benchmark for HPLC in the laboratory for nearly two decades. Because of its dependability, high quality and flexible operation, tens of thousands of these systems are used every day to run methods varying from USP monographs to polymer analyses,” said Ian King, Vice President of Separation Technologies for the Waters Division. “Since its introduction, the Alliance HPLC System has been continually enhanced accommodating an enormous range of separation challenge...
As pioneers in the field, Dr Lewis and his fellow speakers (Drs. Patrick J. Treado; Richard Crocombe; Joachim Koenen) discussed the development of chemical imaging and the scientific advances it has made possible, while exploring the current status of the technique and looking forward to what the future holds....
The SciGene instrument automates the processing of tissue and cell samples used in a variety of cytogenetic tests. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Together, BioDot and SciGene combine effectively to bring world-class automation solutions to the global cytogenetics market. Jim Stanchfield, Ph.D., President and CEO of SciGene commented, “We are very excited about our new relationship with BioDot which greatly enhances the delivery of our automation technology to customers around the globe.”...
Definiens, the global leader of image and data analysis solutions for quantitative digital pathology, today announced it has appointed an Advisory Board comprising renowned industry experts and visionaries in digital pathology. As part of its market expansion strategy, Definiens established the new Board to provide independent advice on trends and opportunities in tissue diagnostics and clinical digital pathology...
These will include heat-treatment instruments such as CWF Laboratory chamber furnaces (1100°C, 1200°C and 1300°C) and the 250°C Apex range fan convection laboratory oven (AX). Specialists from the Carbolite GmbH team will be available throughout the show to discuss individual requirements and applications for their standard and bespoke systems...
Innovation Centre 3 (ic3) will provide 42,000 sq ft of additional office and laboratory space to accompany the two buildings already at the park, which are now more than 90 per cent occupied. The state-of-the-art, four floor building will be constructed over the existing car park of Innovation Centre 1 (ic1) off Mount Pleasant and a double storey-bridge will link it to the ic1 building. It will include flexible office space, fully serviced biology and chemistry laboratories, meeting rooms and under-croft car parking...
Based on the same invention, several patents were issued in the years from 2009 to 2011 by the US Patent Office.The patent EP 1894010 B1, whose issue was announced on 27 February 2013, protects methods as well as devices for PAL-M. The basic idea of the invention is that only a low number of fluorescent dye molecules in a sample may be activated and excited to fluoresce at a time. This enables the physical position of these individual fluorescent molecules to be exactly determined to within a few nanometers....
TARGATT™ allows a gene of interest to be stably integrated into a well-characterized, transcriptionally-active locus in the mouse genome with guaranteed transgene expression. With the TARGATT™ (FVB) mouse and transgenic kit (available from ASC), researchers are able to generate a site-specific knock-in mouse in as fast as 3 months...
Expert rheologists from Malvern will be in attendance throughout the event, and on display will be the Kinexus, a high performance rotational rheometer that enables advanced shear and vertical testing, and the Zetasizer Nano ZSP, a premium light scattering system with microrheology capability.The conference brings together leading rheologists from around the world for four days of lectures and seminars. Microrheology, a relatively new technique, is sure to be a popular topic for discussion...