Selecting IVF Embryos for Normal Numbers of Chromosomes can Significantly Increase Pregnancy Rates
First randomized prospective study shows ongoing pregnancy rate after 20 weeks per cycle started of 69.1% in the 24sure treatment group vs 41.7% in the control group.

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Promise of Structure-Based Drug Design for GPCRs
Heptares Therapeutics announces the recent publication of a major review of the state of the art for GPCR drug discovery and new insights that, for the first time, can be obtained from structural biology.

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New Biomarkers Could Offer Vital Clues for Cancer Research
European funding for cancer research has led to some interesting results in recent years, says Carl-Johan Ivarsson, CEO at Qlucore.

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Guidelines for Prostate Screening Widely Ignored, Study Finds
2008 recommendations from federal task force had no impact.

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Researchers Turn Big Data Problems into Advanced Biology and Drug Discoveries
University of Illinois at Chicago and The Genome Analysis Centre in Norwich, UK leverage SGI(R) UV(TM) to accelerate drug discovery and complex problem analysis.

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New Research on Zebrafish Brings a Cure for Hearing Loss Closer
Zebrafish to discover drugs that may lead to the restoration of hearing.

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Completion of Alzheimer’s Plasma Biomarker Study
The preliminary results demonstrate significant diagnostic and prognostic utilities.

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ERSPC Latest Findings Confirm Increased Mortality Benefit from Prostate Cancer Testing
Extended follow up needed to establish full impact of screening.

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Broad Institute, Dana-Farber and Novartis Collaborate to Develop Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia
Scientists have written the 'Book of Cancer Knowledge' to aid future research into drug discovery and personalized medicine.

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Specificity Quantification of Biomolecular Recognition and its Implication for Drug Discovery
Highly efficient and specific biomolecular recognition requires both affinity and specificity. Here scientists developed a novel method SPA (SPecificity and Affinity) based on funneled energy landscape theory, with increased specificity on previous models.

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KineMed and CHDI Foundation Collaborate
KineMed’s isotopic labeling technology and analytical expertise will be applied to measure in vivo production rates of huntingtin protein as a potential biomarker of disease state.

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Plexpress Announces Collaboration with Admescope
CRO to offer TRAC gene expression analysis for pre-clinical ADME-Tox studies.

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European Life Science Awards Nominees Announced
The awards ceremony celebrates the very best of the industry’s achievements and precedes the Second European Lab Automation (ELA) conference and exhibition taking place from 30th- 31st May at the Congress Centre Hamburg.

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GSK to Fully Acquire Cellzome for £61 Million
GSK to further expand its platform technology expertise with acquisition of chemical proteomics company.

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Agilent Technologies Reports Second-Quarter 2012 Results
Third-quarter fiscal year 2012 revenue guidance of $1.77 billion - $1.79 billion and non-GAAP earnings guidance of $0.82 - $0.84 per share.

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SDIX Reports First Quarter 2012 Results
First advanced genomic antibody technology partnership with a major pharmaceutical company.

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TTP Labtech Launches Impressive Number of Products Following Company Growth
New product offering demonstrates strong commitment to product development.

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BioTek Expands Asia Pacific Office
Expansion of BioTek Singapore office.

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Dr Alan Schafer to head Population Genetics as CEO
Schafer brings deep experience in research, “big pharma” management and building new businesses.

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Ezose Sciences and Hirosaki University to Collaborate in Glycomics Research
International study will focus on urologic cancers through use of Ezose’s GlycanMap® platform.

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Metal Polymers, A Glue to Immobilise Proteins Onto Synthetic Surfaces
Anteo Diagnostics

The main objective of this work was to develop a surface chemistry which maintains protein function and orientation per unit surface area, regardless of the surface used.

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UPLC-MS/MS for the Screening, Confirmation and Quantification of 32 Drugs Illegally Added to Herbal/Dietary Supplements for the Enhancement of Male Sexual Performance
Supreme Council of Health, Qatar

This poster outlines development of a novel screening method that is suitable for both the detection of known and unknown ED drugs and analogues. Comprehensive spectral data is collected and automatically compared to a prepared library if known drugs.

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Effect of Liquid Handling Quality Control on Biological Assay Performance
Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center

High quality assays are required in order to take forward potential drugs, post screening. Therefore the liquid handling must be accurate and precise, as demonstrated in this experiment.

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Nanoliter Volume Pin Tool Transfers as Measured by a Dual-Dye Absorbance Method
V&P Scientific Inc.

Increasing costs of chemical compounds and commonly used solvents has pushed high throughput screening labs towards lower working volumes, specifically in the nanoliter range. The ability to controllably dispense “known” nanoliter aliquots of samples is desired, which can readily be achieved using Pin Tools.

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Why Is My Assay Failing? An Approach to Assay Equipment Optimization
Artel

Assays can produce unexpected or failing results for a multitude of reasons. Variability may be introduced at any point within the assay process.

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A Simple, Robust Automated Multiplexed Cell-Based Assay Process for the Assessment of Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Cytotoxicity
Biotek Instruments

Recent studies have shown that an increasing number of drugs no longer on the market have negative effects on mitochondrial function in key organs such as the liver and heart. Therefore it is increasingly important to monitor the effects of lead compounds on mitochondrial function in relevant cell systems. The ability to incorporate a simple, rapid, multiplexed, predictive assay can make the detection of potential toxic effects easier to perform early on in the drug discovery process.

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An Automated, Cell-based Platform for the Rapid Detection of Novel Androgen Receptor Modulators
BioTek Instruments

The Androgen Receptor (AR) is a member of the family of nuclear receptors responsive to steroid hormones. This poster aims to devise, validate and perform a preliminary automated HTS screening campaign to identify novel modulators of AR activity.

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Automated Solutions for Cellular Screening and Characterization of Therapeutic Antibodies for Antibody-Dependent Cellular Cytotoxicity Utility
BioTek Instruments

Since the end of the 1990’s, the pharmaceutical industry has seen an increased interest in biologics, especially in the therapeutic areas of oncology and inflammation. Here we present the automation of two assays for the characterization and selection of potent antibody drug candidates. Both assays rely on HTRF® detection. The first assay quantifies the binding affinity of antibodies to their target antigen, on live cells.

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Validation of an Automated Cell-Based Bioluminescent TNFa Blocker Bioassay
BioTek Instruments

TNFa blocker biopharmaceuticals represent an important and successful class of protein drugs used in the treatment of several autoimmune diseases. Bioassays are indispensible tools in biopharmaceutical drug development and commercialization that are used to quantify biological activity and stability of drugs or drug candidates. The automation of these assays can serve to create an accurate, robust process which can allow the researcher to perform other more important functions.

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Automation of a Generic Fluorescence Methyltransferase Activity Assay
BioTek Instruments

Epigenetic processes are attracting considerable attention in drug discovery as their fundamental roles in controlling normal cell development and contributions to disease states become more clearly defined. This work combines a fluorescence-based assay with liquid handling and dispensing instrumentation and a multi-mode reader which can be used to monitor the biological activity of the histone methyltransferase (HMT) G9a, a model system.

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Performance Qualification of an Automated Plate Washer Using the Artel MVS®
Artel

The purpose of this application note is to demonstrate the ability of the MVS® Multichannel Verification System to test the performance of an automated plate washer. The previously written application notes, Using the MVS to Measure Residual Volumes Remaining in a Plate After Sample Aspiration: General Approach1 will be cited within as these unique applications relate to this discussion involving tests for (1) bulk dispense precision and accuracy and (2) volume evacuation efficiency.

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Using the MVS to Measure Residual Volumes Remaining in a Plate After Sample Aspiration: General Approach
Artel

The purpose of this application note is to demonstrate an alternative use for the Artel MVS® Multichannel Verification System. As opposed to measuring the accuracy and precision for a volume transfer of sample into a microtiter plate, the MVS is instead used to measure resididual liquid after sample is aspirated out of each well.

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Artel MVS as a Tool For Measuring Liquid Mixing Efficacy in Microplates
Artel

This application note describes how the ARTEL MVS® Multichannel Verification System can be used as a tool for measuring the efficacy of liquid mixing protocols.

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Evaluation of Forward and Reverse Mode Liquid Handling Techniques Using the ARTEL MVS®
Artel

This study illustrates the use of the Artel MVS® Multichannel Verification System to rapidly evaluate the accuracy and precision of dispensed volumes from the Caliper RapidPlate liquid handler.

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Kv1.5 Potassium Channel Assay Using the IonWorks HT System
Molecular Devices

This application note describes the use of the IonWorks HT Platform with a voltagedependent potassium channel Kv1.5.

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Applications of rapid immunoassays (FAST ILA) in cell culture/fermentation and process development using the Threshold System
Molecular Devices

Accurate measurement of the concentration of a biological product is important in bioreactor/fermenter monitoring, downstream processing and final product quality control. Currently, electrophoretic, chromatographic and immunochemical methods are the most commonly used. These three methods are currently used in combination to provide the desired sample information.

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Dual-Glo Luciferase Reporter-Gene Assay on the SpectraMax M5, LMax II384 and Analyst GT Microplate Readers
Molecular Devices

Reporter-gene assays are used to study eukaryotic gene expression. Dual genetic reporters are commonly used in transient transfections of cultured cells to minimize experimental variability. Recently, Promega introduced a Dual-Glo Lucoferase assay system which replaced the outdated ‘flash’ assays used previously. Ensuring both genetic reporters have different substrate requirements enables them to be detected using a single reaction mixture.

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Measurement of Proteasome Inhibition in Live Cells in Molecular Devices Microplate Fluorometers
Molecular Devices

The proteasome is a massive protein complex which can recognize and bind targeted proteins, and inject them into the central core where the proteins are successively degraded into short peptides. Whereas protein synthesis is well-understood after decades of study, major advances in our knowledge of protein degradation have occurred only in the last two decades.

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Recording of ICRAC in RBL-1 Cells on the PatchXpress 7000A Automated Patch Clamp System
Molecular Devices

Calcium release-activated calcium (CRAC) channels play an important role in intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis. Like other store-operated calcium channels, currents through the CRAC channel (ICRAC) are activated by depletion of calcium in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and serve the purpose of slowly replenishing the ER with Ca2+.

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Overcoming the Challenge of Reliable Multi-way Fluidic Connections
Dolomite

If you are struggling to create fast and reliable microfluidic connections, Multiflux™ may be the solution you are looking for.

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