Month: March 2012

Weekly news: Open source is the real biotech revolution

WE’RE big fans of the wider open source movement, here at the LabHomepage, and are particularly interested to see it developing into the laboratory. Open source is an umbrella term covering everything from the way scientific research is published to…

Mini-stirrer packs a stylish punch

STIRRING volumes of up to one litre at speeds between 350 and 2000rpm, the new SM5 Mini Stirrer from Stuart offers effective magnetic stirring in a small package. Constructed of strong lightweight polypropylene, with a chemically-resistant polycarbonate top, the SM5…

Bringing DNA diagnostics to the point of care

A NEW programme to bring a novel microfluidic DNA-based testing and diagnostics technology to point-of-care settings has been launched by a consortium of LingVitae, Plarion, and KTH Royal Institute of Technology. The technology, called Discipher, exploits ‘centrifugal microfluidics’. Based on…

Cell monitoring may replace animal tests

THE EUROPEAN Union’s Cosmetics Directive has effectively banned the use of animals for toxicity testing of cosmetic products and ingredients, coming into force in March 2009. However certain exceptions covering repeated-dose toxicity, reproductive toxicity, and toxicokinetics have meant that some…

Bioinformatics software analyses next-gen sequencing data

AGILENT Technologies has released version 12.0 of GeneSpring, its bioinformatics software, with new capabilities for the analysis of next-generation sequencing data and the facility to work across for transcriptomic, metabolomics, and proteomic platforms – or as Agilent describes it, ‘multi-omics’.…

Hunting down nano particles in the wild

A NEW project to develop instruments to detect and classify nanoparticles in the environment has been launched under FP7, the European Union’s 7th Framework Programme. The Smart-Nano project is coordinated by the Swiss Electronic and Microtechnology Centre (Centre Suisse d’Electronique…

Autosampler accessory streamlines IC workflows

BY AUTOMATING inline pre-injection measurements of conductivity and pH, the Dionex AS-AP Sample Conductivity and pH Accessory from Thermo Fisher Scientific will save users substantial time and effort, as well as providing more consistent results than manual methods, the company…

Lab life, in cartoon motion

HATS off to Life Techologies, for the latest in its excellent series of promotional videos. The tale of PhDiva and the Mystery Band has just been released on YouTube, and has already scored a few thousand views. This clever animation…

Aluminium microplate gives better heat transfer

THE PLASTIC microplate is such a standard feature of the modern laboratory that the advantages of other materials for specific applications might be forgotten. JG Finneran says its 96-well aluminium microplates are the preferred choice for lab work where uniform…

Monoclonal antibodies target Herceptin

LATEST addition to the range of anti-idiotypic antibodies from AbD Serotec are used to target Herceptin (Trastuzumab), an anti-cancer drug. The six new antibodies are useful for monitoring patient serum for Herceptin levels, and have potential applications in preclinical research.…