News "The technology for DNA profiling and the methods for estimating frequencies and related statistics have progressed to the point where the reliability and validity of properly collected and analyzed DNA data should not be in doubt." Although the report deals primarily with the issues of statistical calculations and population genetics, the committee also recommends actions for improving laboratory performance. The 11-member Committee on DNA Forensic Science committee divided the issues into three major groups: the accuracy of laboratory determinations, the accuracy of calculations based on populationgenetics theory and the available databases, and statistical assessments of similarities in DNA profiles. It recommends that laboratories follow quality standards and make every effort to be accredited for DNA work by such organizations as the American Society of Crime Laboratory DirectorsLaboratory Accreditation Board (ASCLDLAB). It also recommends that laboratories participate in open ctfid blind proficiency testing and that the results be presented in court to help the iury evaluate the validity of DNA evidence Open proficiency testing is already required for accreditation by ASCLD-LAB and the Technical Working Group on DNA Analysis and Methods According to the report, the committee recognized that a possibility of error always exists and recommended that forensic samples be divided if possible, and that the unused portions be retained to permit additional tests by a separate laboratory. Committee Chair James F. Crow, professor emeritus of genetics at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, told Analytical Chemistry, ," Iope that the effects [of the report on forensic laboratories] will be greater care and more attention to detail. Again, I place emphasis on the possibility of a repeat test because nothing is perfect where humans are concerned." Final publication is expected this summer. The report will be available for $40 from the National Academy of Sciences, 2101 Constitution Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20418.
BUSINESS
PerSeptive Biosystems forms alliance with Myco PerSeptive Biosystems, Inc., has formed an alliance with Myco Pharmaceuticals to 404 A
establish a new company called ChemGenics. The new company combines Myco's expertise in gene technology and drug discovery with PerSeptive's purification and analysis tools and drug discovery technologies. PerSeptive will have rights to own up to 50% of ChemGenics. ChemGenics' first therapeutic alllance, valued at more than $50 million, is with Pfizer for the discovery and commercialization of antifungal drugs. ChemGenics will be led by Barry Berkowitz, president and CEO. Noubar Afeyan, president and CEO of PerSeptive Biosystems, will serve as the chairman of ChemGenics.
Perkin Elmer agrees to purchase Tropix The Perkin-Elmer Corp. (Norwalk, CT) recently signed an agreement to purchase Tropix, Inc. (Bedford, MA), a company involved in the development of chemiluminescent detection technology for the life sciences. Under the agreement, Tropix will become an operating unit of PE's Applied Biosystems division and will continue to be led by its founder, Irena Bronstein. Terms of the agreement, which are subject to the approval of Tropix shareholders were not disclosed.
Caliper merges with ChemCore
NJ, will be presented at special symposia at the ACS fall national meeting in Orlando, FL Stanley R. Crouch, professor of chemistry at Michigan State University, will receive the Award for Excellence in Teaching, cosponsored by the Division of Analytical Chemistry and DuPont. Crouch is best known for his work in spectrochemical and instrumental methods, computer-based instrumentation statistics and chemometrics. Norman J. Dovichi, professor or ofemistry at the University of Alberta (Canada), will receive the Award in Chemical Instrumentation, sponsored by the Dow Chemical Company Foundation. Dovichi's research involves laserbased microchemical analysis, thermooptical absorbance measurements, DNA sequencing with CZE, and single-molecule detection. Gary Horlick, professor of chemistry at the University of Alberta (Canada), will receive the Award in Spectrochemical Analysis, sponsored by Perkin Elmer. Horlick is best known for his work in plasma emission and MS for elemental analysis, photodiode array detectors, FT spectrometry, and inorganic electrospray MS.
Caliper Technologies, a privately held corporation that develops microminiaturized "lab-on-a-chip" systems for biochemical analysis, is merging with ChemCore Corp., a private company founded by Peter Wilding and Larry Kricka of the University of Pennsylvania. Caliper plans to create products for the analytical research and development market by focusing on molecular biology, biochemistry, organic chemistry, and cell biology. Janet G. Osteryoung, director of the themistry division at the National Science Foundation and a PEOPLE professor of chemistry at North Carolina State UniverDAC awards sity, will receive the Award in ElecStanley R. Crouch, Norman J. Dovichi, trochemistry, sponsored by EG&G PrinceGary Horlick, Janet G. Osteryoung, and Jay K. Trautman are this year's winners of ton Applied Research. Osteryoung performs research in pulse voltammetry, mithe ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry awards. All but the Findeis Award, which croelectrodes, the chemistry of natural will be presented at the Eastern Analytical waters, and methods for determining toxic substances. Symposium in November in Somerset,
Analytical Chemistry News & Features, July Ju 1996
Jay K. Trautman will receive the first Arthur F. Findeis Award for Achievements by a Young Analytical Scientist, sponsored by The Philip Morris Companies. Trautman recently left Bell Labs to take a position as director of research at SEQ, a company devoted to developing a single-molecule DNA sequencer, and is involved in near-field scanning optical microscopy.
They coupled low-flow (< 1 nL/min) electrospray ionization with sheathless 5-um i.d. CE and, using a 6-T FT-MS, were able to obtain full spectra at unit resolution for 0.7-3 x 10~18-mol injections of proteins with molecular masses ranging from 8 kDa to 29 kDa. Errors in the molecular weight were less than 1 Da. The eetection limits for ubiquitin and equine cytochrome c were 0.9 amol and 0.7 amol, respectively. They were also able to measure human carbonic anhydrase from cell lysate at a level of 8 ± ± amol.
20-T FT-ICRMS NEWS FROM ASMS
Biemann Medal established At the awards ceremony of the 44th American Society for Mass Spectrometry Conference on Mass Spectrometry and Allied Topics in Portland, OR, in May, Ronald A. Hites, professor of chemistry and of environmental and public affairs at Indiana University-Bloomington, announced the establishment of the Klaus Biemann Medal to be awarded annually by ASMS. The award funded entirely by former students, postdoctoral associates, and friends of Biemann will recognize scientists who have made significant contributions to basic or applied MS early in their careers. The award is presented "in honor of Professor Klaus Biemann as an educator and scientist and in honor of his lasting legacy resulting from the training of students and postdoctoral associates over a 40-year period at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology" and will include the Biemann Medal a cash award and travel exoenses to
High magneticfieldsbring many advantages to FT-MS—increased mass resolving power, upper mass limit, number of ions, and ion lifetimes. The highest field superconducting magnet available for FTICR is 9.4 T. Alan G. Marshall and coworkers at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (NHMFL) at Florida State University have constructed an FTICRMS by using a 20-T resistive magnet with a 50-mm diameter bore and 1000ppm spatial homogeneity. Although resistive magnets have less spatial and temporal field homogeneity than superconducting magnets, Marshall's
the annual ASMS meettng where the eecinient will prpsent a plenarv lecture Nomina tinns will he Hue bv Nov 1 ofeacb vear The fir t H ill he criven at the 1QQ7 ASMS meeting in Palm Springs, CA, and awards •111.
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group has obtained MALDI/FT-ICR mass spectra of luteinizing-releasing hormone with a mass resolving power (m/Am) of ~ 10,000 and of the cluster Pt4(PF3)8 with a resolving power of ~ 20,000. They attribute their success, which defies the magnet's spatial inhomogeneities, to averaging from the ion cyclotron.
Have TOF, will travel Dave Chambers and Louis Grace of Lawrence Iivermore National Laboratory have developed a direct air sampling quadrupole ion storage/reflectrontime-of-flightmass spectrometer (QUISTOR/reTOF-MS) for air monitoring that can be transported on a cart 36.5-in long x 24-in wide x 15.25-in deep. Chambers says that to aid in the miniaturization they have designed the pumping system with "the fewest number of pumps we can get away with." The instrument has one turbomolecular pump, but the remainder of the instrument is baffled so that the pressure in the sampling region is higher than that of the reTOF-MS but lower than that of the atmosphere. Air is drawn continuously into the instrument. The analyte ions are held in the trap on the order of milliseconds, but the analysis takes only microseconds, which makes the duty cycle effectively 100%. Although the 4 s necessary to write the data to the disk of the oscilloscope limit the time of analysis, Chambers and Grace are designing a data system that will allow true real-time data storage. The instrument has a detection limit for VOCs of 10 ppb to 700 pptr rnd has sben used to measure Freon 11 at 3 ppb with a mass resolution of ~ 1600. Preliminary field tests indicate that it can detect changes from background air, which is the main purpose of the instrument, but Chambers and Grace have not determined if the changes are the result of a single compound or a mixture.
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will be presented annually until 2030.
Picospray ESI of proteins Mass spectrometrists continue to decrease the size of electrospray while increasing its sensitivity. Fred McLafferty's laboratory at Cornell University reported the characterization of proteins with attomole sensitivity by "picospray" CE/ESI tandem MS.
Jared Drader (left), Christopher Hendrickson (middle), and Marshall with the 20-T FT-ICRMS system at the NHMFL in Gainesville, FL. (Courtesy of the NHMFL.
The QUISTOR/reTOF-MS. (Courtesy of LLNL.)
Analytical Chemistry News & Features, July 1, 1996 4 0 5 A
