SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
inside instrumentation TECHNOLOGY AND BUSINESS NEWS FOR THE LABORATORY WORLD
BRUKER OFFERS ANALYTICAL SERVICES Bruker BioSpin has launched a for-fee analytical services program, in which its applications experts will conduct work in the company’s laboratories. The analytical measurements that are available center on Bruker’s current strengths in nuclear magnetic resonance, Fourier transform infrared, and Raman spectroscopies. The company is planning on
programs as part of the initiative. The first collaboration is with the Water Environment Federation and the International Water Association for a World Water Monitoring Day to promote global awareness of the importance of clean water.
PERKINELMER TARGETS GLOBAL PROBLEMS PerkinElmer has unveiled its EcoAnalytix initiative, which focuses on challenges in food safety, water analysis, and biofuels development. The initiative looks beyond instrumentation to provide training and methods needed for specific analyses. Four new application development centers in Shelton, Conn.; Seer Green, England; Shanghai; and Mumbai will support the initiative. PerkinElmer also plans to develop new public outreach
THALESNANO WORKS WITH ETH ZURICH ThalesNano, based in Budapest, and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, will collaborate on flow chemistry applications. The project will be led by ETH professor Peter Seeberger, whose laboratory has previously worked with microreactors and
Thermo Fisher tapped for Beijing Olympics No one likes a cheater, especially in high-profile events like the Olympic Games. Drug testing helps nab athletes who try to give themselves an edge by taking performance-enhancing substances. Thermo Fisher Scientific announced last month that seven of its mass spectrometers—one isotope ratio, two magnetic sector, and four triple-quadrupole instruments—will be used by the China Doping Control Center during the Olympic Games in Beijing next summer. Thousands of samples are expected to be analyzed during the competition, according to the company. To make sure those samples can be run, Thermo Fisher has agreed to provide round-the-clock technical assistance during the Olympic Games. WWW.C E N- ONLI NE .ORG
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has developed an automated oligosaccharide synthesizer.
* AG ILENT TEC HNOLOG I ES
Agilent Technologies has agreed to acquire Velocity11, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based developer of automated liquid handling and laboratory robotics for life sciences applications. Its products include stand-alone instruments, benchtop units, and multiarmed robotic systems, as well as supporting control software. Agilent is offering jobs to most of Velocity11’s nearly 150 employees. Financial details were not made public. In another deal, Varian has acquired Analogix of Burlington, Wis., for about $11 million in cash. The transaction may also include up to $4 million in additional payments over three years, depending on future milestones and financial performance. Analogix produces consumables and instrumentation for automated compound purification using flash chromatography for the pharmaceutical industry.
adding other techniques. “With demand coming from such widespread markets as pharmaceutical, biotech, petroleum industry, and academia, we are expanding our capabilities every day,” says Paul Dawson, sales manager for Bruker’s analytical services division.
TOMAS BERCIC/ ISTO CKP HOTO
ACQUISITIONS MERGE BIG AND SMALL FIRMS
The collaborators will jointly develop novel chemistries and technologies for use with ThalesNano’s continuous-flow microscale reactor systems.
AGILENT LAUNCHES MASS SPECTROMETERS (*) Agilent Technologies has added two new mass spectrometers to its lineup. The 6220 Accurate-Mass time-of-flight and the 6520 Accurate-Mass quadrupole time-of-flight liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry systems incorporate high-speed data acquisition electronics that improve the mass resolution to 20,000. They also include proprietary time-of-flight electronics that increase the dynamic range to nearly five orders of magnitude. “These improvements will enable scientists in metabolomics, proteomics, and complex qualitative analyses to find and identify more lower-abundance compounds faster than ever,” says Ken Miller, marketing director for Agilent’s LC/MS division.
Inside Instrumentation is written by CELIA H. ARNAUD and ANN M. THAYER. Contact them via e-mail to
[email protected].
