RECENT NEWS

The new edition of The Cancer Atlas has been launched. This publication is produced by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the specialised cancer agency of the World Health Organization, jointly with the American Cancer Society and the Union for International Cancer Control.

Cherwell, distributors of the ImpactAir range of microbial air samplers from Pinpoint Scientific, will be displaying the prototype of the new ImpactAir ISO-90 Monitoring Platform on its stand at Pharmig’s Annual Conference (13–14 November, Nottingham Belfry Hotel). ImpactAir is designed for continuous monitoring in high-grade areas, where in-process sampling of viable particles is often critical. The ImpactAir ISO is a modular system designed to integrate into isolators or RABS, using an external controller and remotely located air mover.

Uncontrolled diabetes is associated with serious health problems including cardiovascular disease, neuropathy, nephropathy and retinopathy, and, as such, is a significant burden to the NHS. It is estimated that 8.6% of the adult population in England have diabetes, with this figure expected to rise to 9.7% by 2035.

Oncimmune, a leading global immunodiagnostics group, has welcomed the publication of the Independent Review of Adult Screening Programmes in England, which makes recommendations on overhauling national cancer screening programmes to aid earlier diagnosis and treatment. Oncimmune's EarlyCDT Lung test, which uses a simple blood sample, can detect lung cancer on average four years or more before standard clinical diagnosis.

A laboratory instrument manufacturer is being helped to bring a new product to international markets thanks to the support of Teesside University. Martel Instruments, based in County Durham, is working with the university to trial a new smart device that connects and records data from instruments in a laboratory.

Lab Innovations will be opening its doors on Wednesday and Thursday, 30–31 October 2019, to a record number of visitors and exhibitors. With all exhibition space sold out at this award-winning laboratory exhibition showcase, visitors will have access to a huge range of the latest instruments and technologies, as well as learning about future-proofing and sustainable procurement of laboratory products.

FFEI is the proud winner of the Institute of Physics (IOP) award for Innovation! The award recognises FFEI for the development of advanced imaging technology in the field of digital pathology.

Lab Innovations, the UK’s only trade show dedicated to the laboratory industry, will see a number of new product introductions at Birmingham’s NEC on 30–31 October. Many of the award-winning shows’ exhibitors will be launching or highlighting their very latest laboratory innovations, services and solutions, from general laboratory equipment and informatics, to larger-scale industrial and cleanroom technology.

Beckman Coulter Life Sciences is dedicated to developing and providing advanced technologies and equipment for research and discovery to explore new treatment methods.

EKF Diagnostics has opened a new Research and Development (R&D) facility at its Cardiff headquarters. The new Special Projects Laboratory will focus on developing new applications for EKF’s many point-of-care and central laboratory medical products to enable the company to enter new market sectors, as well as providing additional diagnostics sales and regulatory support.

Lab Innovations will showcase multiple options to help visitors future-proof their laboratories - from innovative products, to waste reduction (time included!) and sustainability. This focus is reflected in many of Lab Innovations’ key areas, including the Sustainable Laboratory zone, the Royal Society of Chemistry, Insights and Innovation, and Live Lab theatres, as well as on the stands of numerous scientific exhibitors.

Velabs Therapeutics has announced that its cooperation with Chiome Bioscience, Tokyo, will be deepened, to jointly discover modulatory and functional antibodies for one of Chiome’s G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) target genes. The collaboration will capitalise on Velabs’ microfluidics-based technology in the field of functional antibody screening.

Thermo Fisher Scientific and Cedars-Sinai, a leading non-profit academic healthcare organisation, have entered into a collaboration to develop a pathway to precision medicine through the development of robust, reliable and sensitive liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS)-based workflows for clinical research applications.

Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) is a slowly developing blood cancer in which patients produce mutated versions of white blood cells that build up in the blood, bone marrow and lymph nodes, and crowd out healthy blood cells. It progresses at different rates in different people, and in a third of patients it never progresses at all.

Disce ut Proficias (Learn, that you may improve) is both the motto and guiding principle of the Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS), and its biennial Congress embodies this ideal. Through lectures, workshops and exhibits, all that is new and relevant to the profession is brought to the delegates. So what is the relevance of the very popular History Committee exhibit that looks at the past? Some may agree with Henry Ford, who said: “History is Bunk”, others understand that knowing where we have come from deepens our understanding and insight into where we are, how we got here and why we took that route.

Scientists can now access a series of sophisticated next-generation centrifugation systems designed to offer improved performance, reliability, consistency and safety. These centrifugation systems are among the first to feature a full-colour, user-friendly touchscreen interface, enabling an advanced level of functionality for improved laboratory efficiencies.

The WLAN-capable Olympus EP50 camera allows every microscope in a classroom to become a wireless imaging system, while also facilitating full standalone applications. The five-megapixel colour camera combines a full HD live image with fast, real-time sharing via smartphones and tablets – without the need for a PC.

Scotland’s biting midge population carries previously-unknown viruses, according to new research. The study – published in the journal Viruses and carried out by scientists at the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research (CVR) – used high-throughput sequencing to study, for the first time, the total collection of viruses in the biting midge (Culicoides impunctatus).

Members of the Step Communications team responsible for the production of Pathology in Practice (PIP) will be on Stand F22 at the IBMS Biomedical Science Congress in Birmingham to discuss publishing opportunities with speakers, delegates and visitors to the exhibition.

The next British Society for Microbial Technology (BSMT) Annual Scientific Conference will be held on Thursday, 14 May 2020 T the RAF Museum in Hendon. The conference is entitled The genomic and molecular revolution in microbiology: in technology we trust (or do we?).