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Insight into the importance of controls in molecular diagnostics assays

Controls are a crucial part of any assay. Without them, our work is, at best, simply a waste of time and reagents. We know we need them but we probably should give them much more thought than we do. CLI caught up with Dr John Hedges, Director of Research and Development at Asuragen (a Bio-Techne […]

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PCR allows rapid, differentiated dermatomycosis diagnostics

The diagnosis of fungal infections of the skin and nails has undergone a paradigm shift in recent years. Traditional culturing methods have in many cases been replaced by PCR-based diagnostics, which provide greater accuracy and yield results ina fraction of the time. The fast, differentiated detection of dermatomycosis pathogens enables prompt targeted treatment of infections.

Fig1.GenomicSubtypes

Molecular subtypes of metastatic urothelial carcinoma and treatment options

Urothelial carcinoma is a common cancer and patients with metastatic urothelial cancer (mUC) have very poor outcomes. Many mUC patients do not have durable responses to systemic treatment and are exposed to toxic side effects that negatively impact the patient’s quality of life. Identifying novel biomarkers for therapy and selecting the best treatment option for […]

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Two common peak-integration protocols for the quantification of M-proteins in serum protein electrophoresis

Quantification of M-proteins plays an important role in diagnosing and managing patients with monoclonal gammopathies. This is traditionally performed by integrating abnormal monoclonal peaks in the electrophoretogram, using either a perpendicular drop (PD) or tangential skim (TS) method. In this article, we describe the advantages and disadvantages of the PD and TS integration methods and […]

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Exploring blood biomarkers for monitoring COVID-19 disease progression and outcomes and impact of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern

In April 2020, the Royal College of Pathologists published recommendations for  a set of blood COVID-19 biomarkers to monitor disease severity and progression, which have since been employed by many UK hospital diagnostics services. Subsequent findings regarding biomarkers and their ability to distinguish or predict severe disease remain under investigation and emerging evidence highlights that […]

StarBright UltraViolet dyes

Bio-Rad introduces 3 new StarBright UltraViolet dyes to enhance multiplex flow cytometry

StarBright UltraViolet dyes

Bio-Rad Laboratories has introduced three StarBright Dyes designed for use with a 355 nanometer UV laser in flow cytometry applications. StarBright UltraViolet 510, 665, and 795 Dyes offer exceptional brightness with narrow excitation and emission profiles for precise resolution, expanding Bio-Rad’s range to provide greater flexibility in multicolour flow cytometry panels.

Bio-Rad’s line of StarBright Dyes offers researchers unique fluorescent nanoparticles conjugated to highly validated flow antibodies, which are compatible with most experimental protocols and flow cytometers, including Bio-Rad’s ZE5 Cell Analyzer and S3e Cell Sorter. The dyes are resistant to photobleaching and are highly stable with no loss of signal in fixation, and minimal lot-to-lot variation helps to ensure consistent staining and deliver reliable results.

“We are proud to add three new dyes to Bio-Rad’s StarBright UltraViolet portfolio, following its launch last year, and are now better positioned to support researchers with their flow cytometry workflows by providing a range of high-performance dyes excitable by the 355 nanometer UV laser to existing alternatives,” said Mike Blundell, PhD, Bio-Rad Product Manager, Flow Cytometry, Life Science Group. “The unrivalled brightness of the dyes enables enhanced resolution of low-density antigens and rare populations while maintaining consistent and reproducible staining without the need for special buffers.”

Thermo Scientific Cascadion SM Clinical Analyzer

Thermo Scientific to connect its Cascadion SM Clinical Analyzer to Inpeco’s Flex Lab laboratory automation system

Thermo Fisher Scientific and Inpeco have agreed to develop connectivity between the Thermo Scientific Cascadion SM Clinical Analyzer and the Inpeco FlexLab laboratory automation system (LAS). This interface will enable primary tubes on the Inpeco LAS to be transported to the Cascadion analyzer for automated loading, pre-treatment, and analysis.

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Time-Saving Automation for Biobanks

Small biobanks and biorepositories often require to select tubes from cold racks straight from the freezer, but cannot afford the huge investment in robotics to fully automatically pick and place tubes from racks.

Molgen Lab

Unlocking the world through monitoring

by Niels Kruize, CCO, MolGen “Automation and industrialization of COVID-19 PCR-testing will facilitate an immense scale-up of the global PCR-testing capacity. It will allow for a new approach to keep society open: preventive, regular testing (twice per week), which will create green bubbles and get us ahead of the curve” – Niels Kruize, CCO, MolGen