SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
inside instrumentation TECHNOLOGY AND BUSINESS NEWS FOR THE LABORATORY WORLD
THERMO TEAMS UP WITH INSTITUTE OF CANCER RESEARCH Thermo Fisher Scientific is collaborating with the Institute of Cancer Research’s (ICR) integrative network biology initiative in Hemel Hempstead, England, to create a state-of-the-art
proteomics Rune Linding of ICR (left) laboratory. and Anthony The lab will Sullivan of be equipped Thermo Fisher with Thermo Scientific pose Scientific’s with an LTQ TSQ Vantage Orbitrap Velos. triple quadrupole and two LTQ Orbitrap Velos mass spectrometers. In addition to instrumentation, the collaboration involves RNA silencing and protein reagents. “The integration of data from mass spectrometry analysis with other data, such as genetic RNAi screens, will allow us to generate detailed models of processes such as invasion and metastasis,” says Chris Marshall, chairman of ICR’s Section of Cell & Molecular Biology.
DEBUT OF SOLID-PHASE EXTRACTION UNIT Dionex has introduced a new solid-phase extraction system for large-volume samples. The
AutoTrace 280 isolates trace organics from water or aqueous matrices in samples ranging from 20 mL to 4 L. Organics are trapped on SPE absorbents in either cartridge or disk format. The instrument processes as many as six samples in 2–3 hours, requiring only 15 minutes of hands-on operation, and stores up to 24 methods that can be uploaded from the front panel.
of 15 Å, with a single channel maximum of 1 Å, and a potential range of ± 9.5 V for a single channel or +8 to –6 V for 25 channels. The company is targeting applications such as fuel cells, biomedical devices, electrochemical sensors, and corrosion studies.
RIGAKU OPENS TEXAS SUBSIDIARY
454 Life Sciences and Roche NimbleGen, which are divisions of Roche Applied Science, are collaborating with Eli Lilly & Co. and SeqWright, a firm specializing in custom genomic and molecular biology services, to identify genetic variants associated with psychiatric diseases. SeqWright will use NimbleGen technology to capture and enrich relevant portions (approximately 40 million bases) of the genome and sequence them using 454 Life Sciences’ instrumentation. Lilly hopes to identify new markers or novel drug targets for use in drug development.
Rigaku Corp. has created Applied Rigaku Technologies (ART), an R&D, manufacturing, sales, and service subsidiary for energy-dispersive X-ray-fluorescence and related elemental analysis technologies. The Japanese company’s latest center of excellence is located in a new facility in Austin, Texas. ART will help develop cost-effective X-ray-based analytical instruments and techniques for the metrology market.
NUVANT LAUNCHES ELECTROCHEMISTRY TOOLS NuVant Systems, based in Crown Point, Ind., has introduced tools for high-throughput electrochemistry. The company’s arraystat system allows users to control as many as 25 electrodes simultaneously. Each electrode can be addressed individually. The device has a maximum total current WWW.CEN-ONLINE.ORG
COLLABORATION TARGETS PSYCHIATRIC ILLNESSES
BECKMAN ACQUIRES DIAGNOSTICS BUSINESS Beckman Coulter has acquired the lab-based diagnostics business of Olympus, an optical instrumentation and camera equipment provider. To expand its chemistry and automated lab systems business, Beckman paid about $780 million in cash, which it raised largely through the sale of notes and stock. “This transaction adds considerable product depth and signifi-
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cantly expands our geographic reach and scale,” Beckman CEO Scott Garrett says. According to the company, the combined business makes Beckman the market leader, just ahead of Roche, in sales of diagnostics.
BRUKER DALTONICS OPENS INDIAN VENTURE Bruker Daltonics and its distribution partner of seven years, LabMate Asia, have established Bruker LabMate, a joint venture company with locations in Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Calcutta, and Mumbai, India. Majority owned by Bruker, the new company will provide customer
Bruker Daltonics Executive Vice President Ian Sanders (right) and officials from the Indian Institute of Science.
support, training, and technical expertise for life sciences mass spectrometry. Last month. as part of the launch of the new company, Bruker Daltonics opened the Bruker Indian Institute of Science mass spectrometry facility in Bangalore. CELIA H. ARNAUD and ANN M. THAYER write Inside Instrumen-
tation. Contact them via e-mail to
[email protected].
