Latest Articles

Dr Rod Chalk, head of mass spectrometry at The Centre for Medicines Discovery (previously the Structural Genomics Consortium) has developed a novel mass spectrometry-based method for characterizing glycans from the Spike protein. In this interview, Chalk discusses the method and how it can be adopted in SARS-CoV-2 research and beyond.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused numerous obstacles for clinical research across the world. Widespread movement restrictions, a diversion of healthcare personnel to the frontline and a compromised ability to ensure participant safety are examples of the many challenges faced by the pharmaceutical industry. But how can today’s pharma industry make progress and still get products to the market in the face of such long-term disruption? Is it possible to eliminate the need for human trials in some cases?

The COVID-19 pandemic has unveiled a pressing issue – the need to develop effective drugs rapidly. But developing a new drug is easier said than done. Technologies such as microfluidics, robotics and the use of artificial intelligence, combined with automated data analysis, can expedite the drug development and approval process, helping make therapies available to patients more quickly.

Patient data is one of our most valuable resources for understanding health and tackling disease. However, we must ensure that sensitive patient data is kept safe and secure while it’s being used for research. In this article, Health Data Research UK’s chief technology expert, Gerry Reilly, discusses the key development in health data research security: Trusted Research Environments.

MALDI-TOF MS has been used as a microbial identification technique for more than a decade, overcoming the limitations of classical biochemical methods. This article discusses the advantages of disposable target plates for cost-effective, convenient microorganism identification workflows.

What are DNA adducts? How can we measure them in a non-invasive manner and what can they teach us about human health and disease? This article by Marcus Cooke from the University of South Florida explains all.

Clinical trials are a significant milestone in the development of innovative drugs and therapies for people diagnosed with different medical conditions including multiple sclerosis (MS). In this article, we examine how technology can make it easier for people to find and enroll on clinical trials.

We provide an update on ongoing global efforts to develop and test drugs for the treatment of COVID-19 and explore the range of strategies being employed.

A whopping 8 million metric tons of plastic is found in seas and oceans every year, which is bad news for marine species. Learn about some of the innovative inventions that are combating our ocean trash.

As microscopes have improved, so too has their resolution and their ability to image cellular substructure, even down to the single-molecule level. Researchers can now investigate the carefully orchestrated trafficking and interaction of organelles, cargo, and biomolecules that sustain cellular life.