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Since the term “chromatography” was first coined by Russian botanist Mikhail Tsvet in the early 1900s, the technique has become a vital tool in a range of disciplines including food and beverage analysis, pharmaceutical testing and environmental monitoring. The applications of chromatography continue to evolve and today include understanding the degradation of artwork to assisting in the search for life on other planets.
Every two years separation scientists gather for the International Symposium on Chromatography (ISC). Founded in 1956, it is one of the oldest separation science conferences, facilitating the discussion and celebration of all modes of chromatography. This year’s conference, which took place in Liverpool, UK, highlighted the vast array of applications where chromatography is an essential part of the workflow, spanning pharmaceutical, petrochemical, environmental, food and health sectors.
Technology Networks spoke with Dr. Anthony Edge, chair of ISC 2024 and chair of the Permanent Scientific Committee of ISC, to discuss some of the key takeaways from this year's event and learn more about the technologies set to transform separation science in the next couple of years.
Blake Forman (BF):
Senior Science Writer
Technology Networks
Blake pens and edits breaking news, articles and features on a broad range of scientific topics. He earned an honors degree in chemistry from the University of Surrey. Blake also holds an MSc in chemistry from the University of Southampton. His research project focused on the synthesis of novel fluorescent dyes often used as chemical/bio-sensors and as photosensitizers in photodynamic therapy.
Can you discuss some of the key takeaways from ISC 2024?
Business Analyst
TetraScience
Dr. Tony Edge is a business analyst at TetraScience, helping scientists liberate, unify and transform raw data into more-than-FAIR, AI-native data. Edge’s current interests are centered on improving the extraction process and high-temperature chromatography. He was awarded an honorary fellowship at Liverpool University, where he lectures on separation science. He also lectures at Keele University on Management in Analytical Science. He is also part of the Reid Bioanalytical conference organizing committee, and a permanent member of the scientific committee for the International Symposium on Chromatography.
One of the key takeaways was regarding sustainability, which was much more prevalent than anticipated. Individual delegates were asking about the impact the conference would have on the environment, and this year we took steps to consider the environmental impact of the event. For example, all the catering was seasonal and locally sourced to minimize emissions within our supply chain.
We were also honored to have John Warner, who coauthored the defining text on green chemistry, attend and deliver some incredibly insightful lectures on sustainability. John was able to dispel a lot of misconceptions that are coming from the environmental sector. He shared that sustainability does not mean making processes less efficient, it’s about making processes more efficient but ensuring we consider sustainability from the offset.
Another key theme was overcoming challenges in the analysis of different drug modalities. It’s evident that the pharmaceutical industry must overcome challenges when it comes to analyzing biological molecules like oligonucleotides and monoclonal antibodies. It was interesting to learn about some of the new technologies coming out to tackle these challenges and to hear how temperature, but also additive manufacturing, can be applied to this area.
Senior Science Writer
Technology Networks
Blake pens and edits breaking news, articles and features on a broad range of scientific topics. He earned an honors degree in chemistry from the University of Surrey. Blake also holds an MSc in chemistry from the University of Southampton. His research project focused on the synthesis of novel fluorescent dyes often used as chemical/bio-sensors and as photosensitizers in photodynamic therapy.
What are some of your personal highlights from the event?
AE:
Business Analyst
TetraScience
Dr. Tony Edge is a business analyst at TetraScience, helping scientists liberate, unify and transform raw data into more-than-FAIR, AI-native data. Edge’s current interests are centered on improving the extraction process and high-temperature chromatography. He was awarded an honorary fellowship at Liverpool University, where he lectures on separation science. He also lectures at Keele University on Management in Analytical Science. He is also part of the Reid Bioanalytical conference organizing committee, and a permanent member of the scientific committee for the International Symposium on Chromatography.
The keynote presentation from John Warner was certainly a personal highlight. He was an incredible orator, with such a wealth of knowledge. Another highlight for me was the lecture by Dr. Peter A. Willis, from NASA, who gave a fascinating plenary talk on the technology that's been developed to identify whether or not we're living alone in this universe. A lot of the challenges he discussed aren’t confined to space travel and are very relevant to scientists constrained to the planet. These are just two examples, but many more excellent speakers gave talks this year.
BF:
Senior Science Writer
Technology Networks
Blake pens and edits breaking news, articles and features on a broad range of scientific topics. He earned an honors degree in chemistry from the University of Surrey. Blake also holds an MSc in chemistry from the University of Southampton. His research project focused on the synthesis of novel fluorescent dyes often used as chemical/bio-sensors and as photosensitizers in photodynamic therapy.
The theme for ISC 2024 was “Imagine a World of Chromatography” – can you elaborate on why this theme was chosen and how this was reflected in the outcomes of the event?
AE:
Business Analyst
TetraScience
Dr. Tony Edge is a business analyst at TetraScience, helping scientists liberate, unify and transform raw data into more-than-FAIR, AI-native data. Edge’s current interests are centered on improving the extraction process and high-temperature chromatography. He was awarded an honorary fellowship at Liverpool University, where he lectures on separation science. He also lectures at Keele University on Management in Analytical Science. He is also part of the Reid Bioanalytical conference organizing committee, and a permanent member of the scientific committee for the International Symposium on Chromatography.
We spent a long time as a committee coming up with the theme for the conference and there are lots of hidden messages in the strapline. Some of the obvious ones are the connection with the Beatles and Liverpool and a reference to the song “Imagine” by John Lennon. But then also concerning chromatography, we wanted to focus more on the application side of the technology, and this was reflected in the program of the event. A lot of the sessions such as the presentation by Prof. Perdita Barran on the application of mass spectrometry in non-invasive diagnostics of Parkinson’s disease were application-driven. We wanted the program to emphasize that together we can move chromatography forward and that by sharing solutions across applications we can overcome existing barriers.
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Chromatography cuts across lots of different applications and what invariably happens is that one application will have a challenge and that issue has already been solved in a different area. Having lots of different applications being presented enabled people to meet others they probably wouldn't have before and find these solutions that they can now apply to their own field.
Senior Science Writer
Technology Networks
Blake pens and edits breaking news, articles and features on a broad range of scientific topics. He earned an honors degree in chemistry from the University of Surrey. Blake also holds an MSc in chemistry from the University of Southampton. His research project focused on the synthesis of novel fluorescent dyes often used as chemical/bio-sensors and as photosensitizers in photodynamic therapy.
What are some of the biggest emerging issues (and opportunities) in the field of separation science that were highlighted during the event?
AE:
Business Analyst
TetraScience
Dr. Tony Edge is a business analyst at TetraScience, helping scientists liberate, unify and transform raw data into more-than-FAIR, AI-native data. Edge’s current interests are centered on improving the extraction process and high-temperature chromatography. He was awarded an honorary fellowship at Liverpool University, where he lectures on separation science. He also lectures at Keele University on Management in Analytical Science. He is also part of the Reid Bioanalytical conference organizing committee, and a permanent member of the scientific committee for the International Symposium on Chromatography.
Chromatography has a big role to play in the development of protein therapeutics and currently there is a lack of understanding of how the separation mechanisms work when analyzing very large molecules.
Another aspect is trying to grasp how sustainability can be applied to chromatography. There are lots of opportunities for chromatography in terms of the developments in supercritical fluid chromatography, thermally responsive phases and miniaturization. All these technologies within separation science are developing rapidly and providing us with a route forward to be able to counteract the environmental impact of research.
Senior Science Writer
Technology Networks
Blake pens and edits breaking news, articles and features on a broad range of scientific topics. He earned an honors degree in chemistry from the University of Surrey. Blake also holds an MSc in chemistry from the University of Southampton. His research project focused on the synthesis of novel fluorescent dyes often used as chemical/bio-sensors and as photosensitizers in photodynamic therapy.
Looking ahead, what do you believe will be the most transformative technologies in chromatography over the next couple of years?
AE:
Business Analyst
TetraScience
Dr. Tony Edge is a business analyst at TetraScience, helping scientists liberate, unify and transform raw data into more-than-FAIR, AI-native data. Edge’s current interests are centered on improving the extraction process and high-temperature chromatography. He was awarded an honorary fellowship at Liverpool University, where he lectures on separation science. He also lectures at Keele University on Management in Analytical Science. He is also part of the Reid Bioanalytical conference organizing committee, and a permanent member of the scientific committee for the International Symposium on Chromatography.
Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, will play a big role in addressing the challenges with current manufacturing processes. I’ve been working in manufacturing for most of my life, and one of the challenges with making columns is reproducibility. Lithographic and monolithic techniques have certainly moved this area forward, but there have always been inherent disadvantages with these technologies. With additive manufacturing we can address these challenges and no longer will we have batch-to-batch variability in terms of column output. It could also help address supply chain issues; with printed columns, it could be possible to provide columns within a few hours as opposed to days as with current manufacturing processes.
