AIMED at protein crystallography and other life science laboratory applications, the latest EcoTherm chilling incubators from Torrey Pines Scientific have a larger 100 litre capacity. Exploiting the Peltier effect for heating and chilling, these units require no motors or compressors…
Heating block is safer and faster than oil bath
A SAFER, more productive method of heating samples in a variety of laboratory glassware is the promise of the DrySyn Multi from Asynt. This device converts any standard laboratory hotplate stirrer into a reaction block which can accommodate up to three…
Top tip for commercialisation of microplate innovations
INNOVATIONS in microplates can spring from any laboratory, in academia or industry, often from organisations that are not experienced at commercialisation of this sort of development. The company has two decades of experience in developing microplate technology, accumulating a wealth…
Build a snowman, win an e-reader
IN WHAT is becoming something of a Christmas tradition, Oxford Gene Technology has launched an interactive online game aimed at the laboratory. This year’s game invites players to build a snowman using a simple online interface, and then to share…
Inter-laboratory data management goes online
WITH quality monitoring and control being a vital consideration for many modern laboratories, Randox has launched a new online data management programme to complement its Acusera range of reference controls. It says Acusera 24.7 Live Online will help improve quality…
Cooling stage is ‘breakthrough’ in cryogenic cell imaging
DIFFERENT imaging techniques offer different advantages to the researcher, and the holy grail of microscopy would be to combine all the benefits of the various techniques without any of their disadvantages. Linkam says that its new Cryo-Correlative Cooling Stage moves…
Concentrated info on EZ-2 evaporators
A NEW microsite dedicated to its EZ-2 series evaporators has been launched by Genevac. The EZ-2 is a series of compact, benchtop, personal evaporators which accurately control vacuum and temperature to enable rapid evaporation of a wide range of solvents…
Company site provides microplate information
A NEW website from Porvair Sciences aims to provide in-depth information relating to its range of microplate products and custom microplate design service. Enabling visitors to navigate through over 900 products arranged by application use, porvair-sciences.com will be of interest…
Microarrays beat karyotyping in this prenatal research study
A ‘LANDMARK’ study which is boosting understanding of prenatal abnormalities has also shown that microarrays enabled researchers to detect smaller aberrations than traditional karyotyping, reports Agilent. The three-year study, published last week in New England Journal of Medicine by researchers…
Instant, PC-free, microscope imaging
A NEW standalone controller for the five megapixel Olympus DP26 microscope camera makes it possible to view samples and capture images directly on a monitor screen with no need for a dedicated computer. This means that microscopy images can be captured…
Notes discuss solid atomic absorption analysis of nickel-based alloys
TWO NEW application notes from Analytik Jena highlight the technique of direct solid sampling for the atomic absorption analysis of nickel based alloys. Specific trace element analysis of the alloys used to manufacture aircraft turbines is a critical quality control…
Emulator allows Agilent 1290 to mimic Waters LC systems
AGILENT reports a major upgrade to Intelligent System Emulation Technology (Iset), which now enables emulation of Waters Alliance liquid chromatography (LC) systems. The company says Iset allows scientists to seamlessly transfer all protocols and legacy methods used on Waters Alliance…
Weekly news: Forget microfluidics, the new frontier is femtofluidics
I’VE BEEN following developments in microfluidics for a couple of decades now, since I first got my hands on a prototype glass chip in a German development laboratory in the 1990s. After asking my hosts very nicely, they reluctantly opened…
Harvesting light with flash photolysis spectrometer
RESEARCH at the University of Connecticut, USA, into plant light harvesting complexes has made use of a LP920 flash photolysis spectrometer, reports Edinburgh Instruments. A paper in the journal Photosynthesis Research examines the efficiency of variants of the Peridinin-Chlorophyll a-Protein…
The latest trends in nucleotide innovation
LINK Technologies reports that it has observed a significant increase in requests for vitamin-modified oligo precursors, following on from the increasing use of vitamin-modified oligonucleotides in life science research. The company is a certified specialist in the provision of phosphoramidites…
More storage volume in 96-tube format
STORING high sample volumes in the minimum space is a challenge faced by many laboratories. Micronic now offers a new answer to this perennial dilemma with its 2.00ml storage tubes, which provide higher volume storage within an industry-standard 96-tube rack…
Clinical chemistry analyser includes clot detection
THE NEW RX Daytona Plus clinical chemistry analyser from Randox is said to be the only analyser in its class to include a sample clot detection sensor. This mid-range instrument offers features typically found on a larger automated analyser, but…
Combined CGH and SNP analysis makes for faster research
COMPARATIVE genomic hybridisation plus single nucleotide polymorphism microarray analysis is now being offered by Wicell, a non-profit organisation and leading distributor of human pluripotent stem cells, using the Agilent SurePrint G3 Human Genome CGH+SNP microarray. Unlike previous assays that required…
Nanoscale thermal analysis to improve drug delivery
AT THE University of East Anglia, UK , post-doctoral researcher Jonathan Moffat is studying the delivery of drugs with poor water solubility, and looking in particular at the characterisation of delivery systems. His team creates solid dispersions using a variety…
Predicting the effect of particle size in heterogeneous catalyst development
MALVERN Instruments has published a new application note which discusses the importance of particle size in heterogeneous catalyst materials, concluding that the company’s Mastersizer 3000 particle size analyser can be useful in achieving optimum reactivity. The Mastersizer 3000 accurately determines…
A centrifuge for all laboratory applications
MEDLINE Scientific reckons its new range of compact bench-top centrifuges includes models to cover almost all operations in life-science laboratories, including biochemistry, chemistry, and haematology. Each of the models in the MC centrifuge range feature a robust sealed housing, fully…
Determining optimum conditions for large scale stem cell culture
AN INDUSTRY consortium has been launched to optimise media and processes in order to manufacture stem cells and natural killer cells at volume. Based at the Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine (CCRM), a Canadian non-profit organisation, the consortium includes…
Take control of CO2 mixtures during live cell imaging
THE OKOLAB Bold Line CO2 controller, available in the USA from distributor Warner Instruments, give the scientist full control of atmospheric gas concentrations during imaging work on live cells. This full digital gas controller adds CO2 to air or N2,…
Qualified human feeder cells for iPSC reprogramming
A NEW range of human feeder cells from Amsbio are qualified for induced Pluripotent Stem Cell (iPSC) reprogramming. These newborn human foreskin fibroblasts, available under the trade name NuFF-RQ, are validated to support iPSC colony generation, providing an optimised feeder…
Closed-tube shredder gives better biological samples
IMPROVED sample preparation is promised by the new PBI Shredder SG3 from Cole-Parmer, a closed system device said to be ideal for molecular and cellular biological analysis. Intended for the extraction of DNA, RNA, protein, mitochondria, and small molecules, the…
Microscope claims new standard for luminescent live cell imaging
NORTH American researchers can now get their hands on the Olympus LV200 benchtop microscope, which has already been available to those in Europe and Japan. The LV200 is designed to acquire very low-light bioluminescence images and, when used with the…
Weekly news: Squeezing the Juice from a frozen lake
I’M GENUINELY intrigued by the reports which have surfaced in the last few days from the deep drilling project in Antarctica, which has found thriving microbial colonies in very hostile conditions in a sub-glacial lake. It has long been suggested…
Gene analysis software now includes copy number variation (CNV) mode
THE NEWEST version of SoftGenetics’s NextGene software includes a module for copy number variation (CNV) and a user selectable reporting functions among its enhancements. NextGene 2.3.1 includes the CNV analysis tool, which uses a proprietary method to normalise coverage between two…
Popular mathematical software now in free version
MATHCAD claims to be the world’s most popular engineering calculation software, and is now available in a free version. Mathcad Express gives users the full functionality of the premium Mathcad Prime 2.0 software for a period of 30 days, after…
Tubing pump is ‘ideal’ for low-flow laboratory and research work
THE REDESIGNED head on the new Masterflex C/L peristaltic pumps offer significant mechanical and ergonomic improvements, says Cole-Parmer. The new design improves tube retention, making it more secure, and delivers more consistent performance with different diameters of tubing and different…