Latest Industry Insights

The Zika virus poses a significant global risk, and there is currently no vaccine or specific treatment available for those infected. Having access to sensitive and specific diagnostic assays is essential to disease management, and in enabling effective research and the development of therapeutics. We spoke to Nick Roesen, Founder and COO of The Native Antigen Company, to learn about the Zika virus immunoassays that have been developed to overcome cross-reactivity with Dengue.

Given the urgent need for compounds that can effectively prevent and treat influenza, San Diego-based Cidara Therapeutics are working to develop antiviral conjugates. We spoke to Les Tari, Senior VP of Research, to find out about their unique approach and lead candidate.

Imaging techniques, such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), have been instrumental in giving insights into the world beyond the naked eye. Traditional SEM instruments have provided us with unprecedented details, but can be complex to use, and require a large dedicated space. The dawn and advancement of compact and user-friendly benchtop SEMs are changing this picture. We spoke to Donna Guarrera, Assistant Division Director for SM at Jeol, about the Neoscope benchtop SEM.

The 67th American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) Conference on Mass Spectrometry and Allied Topics is currently in full swing in Atlanta, Georgia. Bringing together over 6,500 scientists from across the globe, companies working in the mass spectrometry field also take this opportunity to share their latest developments and innovations. Here we will take a look at some of the release highlights for 2019.

Given that bad antibodies are likely to blame for a significant proportion of the reproducibility crisis in science, any efforts to reduce batch-to-batch variability are more than welcome. One company with a plan to help in this area is “Absolute Antibody”, who believe that recombinant antibodies are the way forward. To learn more about making antibodies with recombinant technology, we spoke to Ian Wilkinson, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer.

Having reliable antibodies can make or break your assay. However, sourcing the right antibody for the job can sometimes feel like you’re entering the lottery: there are so many on the market, and often they just don’t live up to what was promised. To learn more about antibody validation and its importance, we got in touch with Anthony Couvillon, PhD, Scientific Marketing Project Manager at Cell Signaling Technology.

Flow cytometry is a technique used to count and analyze the size, shape and properties of individual cells. Not just a valuable research tool, flow cytometry is also finding its stride in several clinical areas. Following BD Biosciences’ launch of a new sample preparation instrument, we spoke to Stephen Gunstream, VP and general manager, to get his insights on the role of flow cytometry in the clinic.

Our recent social media poll on "book recommendations for scientists" provided an incredible response. We decided to collate this information and give you the perfect excuse to treat yourself to a new read. Enjoy!

An “off-the-shelf” immuno-oncology product has been developed whereby T cells are derived from healthy donors, bypassing limitations related to high pricing and limited market access.

Accurate protein characterization is particularly important in the biopharmaceutical industry, where product modifications can affect efficacy and safety. Here, we speak to Matthew Lauber, a consulting scientist who elaborates on the importance and challenges of biotherapeutic protein characterization, and discusses different techniques used for charge variant analysis.