“The Zaire Ebola virus causes a highly contagious and lethal hemorrhagic fever leading to the death of the infected individuals. The recent outbreak of the virus in West Africa has alarmed the world, especially Europe and the US, owing to the geographical speed of the infection spread and high fatality rates. While many experts feel that the chances of the spread of the virus are very low in Europe and the US, healthcare authorities have been on a...
CAMECA, a world leader in scientific instrumentation and metrology solutions, is pleased to announce the release of its latest generation atom probe microscope. The LEAP 5000 offers unparalleled 3-dimensional nano-scale surface, bulk and interfacial materials analysis with atom-by-atom identification and accurate spatial positioning. “CAMECA is very proud to introduce the LEAP 5000,” notes Dr. Tom Kelly, CAMECA Vice President for Innovation and...
In the future it will be mandatory in all member states of the European Union to indicate the calorie content on processed foods along with the following six nutrients: fat, saturated fatty acids, carbohydrates, sugar, protein and salt (EU Regulation No. 1169/2011). When it comes to the determination of the salt content, thermometric titration is superior to any other method with regard to cost, accuracy, ease of use, and robustness.
The 12th PSA conference and exhibition takes place from 15 - 17 September 2014 in Manchester UK. Experts from Whitehouse Scientific will present two papers exploring the use of Image Analysis as an effective solution for the calibration and validation of industrial processes for which particle size and shape are critical parameters. ...
Molecular Profiles’ pharmaceutical development services will be supported by XenoGesis’ expertise in preclinical drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics (DMPK) to give clients a smarter route into formulation development and a better understanding of a compound’s bioavailability. This strategic alliance will allow the Nottingham-based companies to help drug developers in the initial design and selection of compounds for key DMPK and ADME (absorption, distribution, metabolism and...
This is significant since with such sensitivity, it paves the way for the possibility of using a simple blood test to screen and diagnose different cancers, as well as monitor the efficacy of anti-cancer therapies. Following work undertaken by the Swansea-based team earlier this year, which successfully detected circulating free DNA (cfDNA) mutations from melanoma patients using PointMan, further studies were carried out on...
Scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, tested the effectiveness of a genetically engineered version of the virus used to vaccinate against smallpox. They found use of the virus alongside isolated limb perfusion chemotherapy – given directly to blood vessels supplying the affected arm or leg as an alternative to amputation – was more effective in rats than either treatment on its own. The study, published in the...
Scientific papers covering more than 2,300 substances tested on rats, mice and rabbits were analysed to measure the likelihood ratio that chemicals showing no adverse reactions would behave the same way in humans. The paper, published in FRAME's scientific journal ATLA, says: "The current nadir of new drug approvals and the drying-up of pipelines may be a direct consequence of continued animal use. Our results for these additional preclinical species have...
Building unto the success of last year, Biosimilars & Biobetters 2014 will allow input from key industry experts in the field to engage in meaningful and important discussions on how to accelerate drug development to market. The agenda aims to bring together pharma, biotech and legal experts explaining the advantages and disadvantages within this growing market, looking at case studies from those who are developing and distributing follow on...
DARPins are a next generation of protein therapeutics combining the advantages of antibodies and small molecule drugs. High target specificity and potency, small size, cost-effective production and a whole range of possible multi-specific format choices gives them the potential to surpass existing antibody drugs and revolutionize protein therapeutics. Andreas Lehmann, an Expert Technical Assistant working in Molecular Partners 96-well high throughput expression facility commented...
The Institutional Biobank of Lausanne (BIL) was created to support clinical research and more specifically research in genomics. After the sequencing of all local patient samples in the biobank, BIL aims to exploit the genomic and clinical data for specific research projects. This data will be used to better understand disease, better target individuals who respond to treatment (personalized medicine) as well as identify patients who consent to...
The work was performed at Heptares Therapeutics, a leading drug discovery and development company using TTP Labtech’s innovative liquid handling technology for lipidic cubic phase crystallography (mosquito LCP). Dr Andy Doré, Head of Crystallography at Heptares Therapeutics and joint first author of the recent article in Nature, stated, "the mosquito LCP was used for all crystallisation setups of the mGlu5-StaR resulting in us...
Francesco Simone Ruggeri is a member of the Doctoral Program in the group of Professor Giovanni Dietler, head of the Laboratory of the Physics of Living Matter at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). The research activity of the laboratory of physics of living matter is mainly devoted to the study of DNA topology, cellular machines, protein mechanics and high-resolution low temperature Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM)...
ZEISS Microscopy announces that it will be demonstrating its new ZEISS Crossbeam Focused Ion Beam Scanning Electron Microscope (FIB-SEM) at M&M 2014, August 3-7 at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford, CT. ZEISS Crossbeam FIB-SEM increases throughput using a high beam current of up to 100 nA. While milling samples at unprecedented precision at all currents, users acquire images and analytical data in up to...
As costs for energy and raw materials continue to rise, it becomes more critical for chemists to be able to mimic a reaction or to quantify the parameters required to produce a final product without the difficulty and expense of using production facilities. To be able to recreate a production process on a lab bench is therefore highly desirable for many chemists. The Magritek Spinsolve high-resolution benchtop NMR spectrometer is a...
Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) is a technique used to detect interactions between proteins and DNA, and is based on the enrichment of DNA associated with a specific protein of interest. Combining ChIP with massively parallel sequencing (ChIP-seq) allows the accurate survey of interactions between proteins and DNA, enabling the study of epigenetic marks which is essential for a full understanding of...
This represents 80% savings! With the addition of new RAD™ technology (Random Access Dispensing), BioTek's MultiFlo™ FX Multi-Mode Dispenser now offers single channel dispensing to random individual wells and can rapidly dispense reagents into the large volume wells of 6- to 24- well microplates...
The UK-based contract research organisation is now supporting the charity across a portfolio of drug substance campaigns covering the development and manufacturing of API for use in clinical trials. Across the range of projects, Cancer Research UK’s Drug Development Office is utilising the contract manufacturing organisation’s (CMO) expertise in: process development, solid-state chemistry, analytical and GMP synthesis of API for use in Phase I clinical trials...
The new ambr15 iPad app, presented in a fully interactive ‘iBrochure’ provides an overview of all the useful information on the ambr15 automated micro bioreactor and will help bioprocess professionals to rapidly familiarise themselves with the system. The iBrochure features a video demonstration and an interactive tour, as well as an image gallery showing close-ups of the key features. There are also quotes from recent articles on the...
This new imaging suite will provide an inexpensive, yet rapid method of generating perfectly in-focus images of samples. The new Scopepad 500 features a 9 inch tablet integrated to a high-resolution 5 megapixel camera and software for image capture, annotation, measurements and image enhancement. The Scopepad 500 with its standard C-mount is easily fitted to any microscope with a camera port, allowing microscopists to have a...