RECENT NEWS

The National Horseracing Authority of Southern Africa is using the Applied Biosystems/MDS Sciex Q TRAP LC/MS/MS system to screen racehorse urine and blood for prohibited substances used to influence the outcome of races.

Following the devastation caused to the Gulf Coast by Hurricane Katrina, Abbott sent its three Architour trucks to the area.

On 21 November, staff at Bayer in Newbury helped to record another major event in the æBayer TapestryÆ, when they attended the UK launch of the ADVIA Centaur CP, the latest compact immunodiagnostics analyser from Bayer Diagnostics.

Camlab, the Cambridge-based laboratory supplies company, has announced plans for substantial growth as it enters its second half-century.

Analytical Technologies, the UK distributor of Sebia electrophoresis equipment, provides training courses as part of the package when a new instrument is commissioned.

Cambridge BioScience is now distributing EpigentekÆs range of epigenetics-related research kits in the UK.

The second annual European symposium on protein fractionation and biomarker discovery featured papers on a wide range of advances in proteome research.

Oxoid, a leading manufacturer of microbiological culture media and diagnostic products, won first prize in the Logistics and Supply Chain category of the prestigious 2005 Manufacturer Awards.

In October 2005 Pfizer Consumer Healthcare discontinued supply of the Pancreolauryl Test (PLT). The company said that it was unable to resolve various manufacturing and supply issues relating to the capsules used in the test. As Pfizer is the sole British distributor, PLT is no longer available in the UK.

Olympus has started production of the first immunoassay reagents for the AU3000i analyser at its extended Irish facility.

Beckman Coulter has recently introduced BioSafe AeroSeal covers for its AllSpin JS-5.3 rotors

Greater Glasgow Health Board (GGHB) has selected Abbott Diagnostics, in conjunction with third party suppliers, to provide instruments, tests, laboratory automation and other laboratory management services to hospitals in the GGHB community for a seven-year period.

Researchers at the University ChildrenÆs Hospital in Erlangen, Germany, are using the API 4000 LC/MS/MS system from Applied Biosystems to master the problems associated with steroid analysis and paediatric therapeutic drug monitoring, in a number of research projects.

SyngeneÆs ChemiGenius2 multipurpose imaging system is being used by the University of Oklahoma for a fluorescence imaging application which is part of an important study into the causes of blindness associated with diabetes.

It has been announced that Affymetrix has awarded premier application status to Beckman CoulterÆs ArrayPlex for automated target RNA preparation.

Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust has become the 20th UK hospital to adopt the modular pre-analytics system (MPA) from Roche Diagnostics.

The Oxoid Infection Control Team of the Year Awards are designed to recognise and reward those who are making a real difference to improved standards of infection control within hospitals worldwide.

Researchers at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genomics at the University of Oxford have teamed up with microarray specialists Oxford Gene Technology Services (OGT) to develop a method for in situ spotting of double-stranded DNA on microarray slides.

Acolyte Biomedica, the company spun out of the MoD establishment at Porton Down, has launched the BacLite Rapid MRSA test.

The latest issue of LC World Talk, the newsletter from Shimadzu for the HPLC community, is available to view on line at www.shimadzu.co.uk.