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Prevention and detection of harmful microorganisms within the food industry, be it in your own kitchen, during the production chain or right back at the producer is imperative to keeping consumers healthy. Changes occurring in our climate are also causing shifts in the niches inhabited by microbes, and scientists must keep ahead of the game to prevent emerging issues.

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) is a powerful analytical mass spectrometry technique that has generated numerous diagnostic and clinical applications, especially for the identification of microorganisms for medical diagnosis. Here we take a look at the role of MALDI-TOF in clinical microbial identification and what its future looks like.

Lets take a look at the science behind the gesture

Professor Shiranee Sriskandan is a Clinical Professor of Infectious Diseases at Imperial College London. She leads a team focused on the mechanisms by which streptococcal infections cause serious disease. As well as her research work, Professor Sriskandan undertakes teaching within the University and is also a medic at Hammersmith Hospital.

This article highlights the types of vaccine, trends in developing future vaccines and discusses new delivery methods and strategies to help advance our understanding of the immune system.

A microfluidic model of the colon has been built using natural tissue base matrix, which closely mimics the structure and function of the colon.

Advances in sequencing technologies are providing scientists with a powerful way to view microbial communities in unprecedented detail. Metagenomics is a rapidly evolving field that is uncovering a wealth of hidden biodiversity, revolutionizing our understanding of uncharted corners in the living world.

It’s more than a century since Paget first proposed the ‘soil and seed’ hypothesis in cancer, providing evidence that the environment surrounding a tumor is as important as the tumor itself. Research in this area has gathered momentum and it’s now the focus of intense research efforts.

Determining what happens to a drug after it enters the body is a key consideration in the drug development process. Liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (LC-MS) has emerged as one of the most powerful analytical tools for the screening and identification of drug metabolites. Advances in the field of LC-MS have allowed scientists to analyze drug metabolic pathways and drug-drug interactions more closely, and improve therapeutic strategies for many challenging diseases.

Improved access to clean and safe drinking water is key for health and survival and has been classified as a human right. Here, we take a look at some of the novel solutions, both hi-tech and low-tech, that scientists are designing to help monitor drinking water source safety.