RECENT NEWS

IFBLS: 64 years of good laboratory practice

The year 2018 marked the 64th anniversary of the founding of the International Association of Medical Laboratory Technologists (IAMLT), now named the International Federation of Biomedical Laboratory Sciences (IFBLS). President Elect Alan Wainwright reports.

News

/ Feb 12, 2019

Two grants aim to tackle sepsis

MediSieve is receiving two grants from Innovate UK, worth a total of around £1.56 million. One grant will progress development of a severe sepsis product, developing five magnetic particles to remove different sepsis targets. Another SRBI grant enables focus on one of those particles and how it can be used to remove antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) bacteria from a patient’s bloodstream.

News

/ Feb 12, 2019

The Periodic Table: an anniversary of organisation

The United Nations has designated 2019 as the International Year of the Periodic Table to celebrate one of the most significant achievements in science. Next month it will be 150 years since the Russian scientist Dmitri Mendeleev took all of the known elements and arranged them into a table (pictured).

News

/ Feb 12, 2019

Scientists identify ‘origin’ of cancer spread

Scientists in the UK claim to have identified a cancer cell from which all cancer growth starts. The discovery of the cell, which they are calling ‘the cell of origin’ sheds new light on what fuels cancer growth and potentially how to stop it. Lead researcher Professor Michael P Lisanti said: “If, as we believe, we have found the beginning of the road, we may have to press the reset button on how we treat cancer with drugs.”

News

/ Feb 12, 2019

Future Leaders in Innovation, Enterprise and Research

The Academy of Medical Sciences has announced the first participants of its novel Future Leaders in Innovation, Enterprise and Research (FLIER) Programme. Seventeen participants from organisations across the life sciences landscape have been selected for the first round of the prestigious FLIER leadership programme.

News

/ Feb 12, 2019

Healthcare: a two-day look to the future

A former Secretary of State for Health, the Rt Hon Patricia Hewitt, is confirmed to give a welcome address at Future Healthcare International Exhibition and Conference at Olympia. Future Healthcare 2019 is organised in association with UKIHMA, a UK government trade promotion organisation jointly funded by the Department for International Trade, the Department of Health and NHS England.

News

/ Feb 12, 2019

Respiratory infections: revised BSMT conference programme

The next British Society for Microbial Technology (BSMT) Annual Scientific Conference, entitled Respiratory Microbiology – A Day of Inspiration, will take place on Thursday 16 May 2019 at the RAF Museum Hendon. Some revisions to the programme have been made as outlined below.

News

/ Jan 24, 2019

Statistical quality control: setting IQC targets

The third in his Pathology in Practice series of articles on internal quality control, which will appear in the February 2019 issue, will see Stephen MacDonald continue his overview of process design with a look at defining process stability and setting target values.

News

/ Jan 24, 2019

Fear of side effects main reason for choosing not to vaccinate

The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) has published a report revealing the extent to which social media propagates misinformation about vaccinations, and that the perceived risks of side effects are the key concern among those who choose not to vaccinate. While all vaccines have potential side effects, in reality they only affect some people – and are typically mild, short-lived, and far outweighed by the benefits of immunisation.

News

/ Jan 24, 2019

Combined diagnostic and antimicrobial susceptibility test enables guided therapy for gonorrhoea

UK patients with N. gonorrhoeae (GC) now have the option of receiving the cheap and easily-administered oral antibiotic ciprofloxacin thanks to updated treatment guidelines and the availability of a molecular diagnostic and antimicrobial susceptibility test (AST). The new test can simultaneously diagnose gonorrhoea and provide information on whether or not a patient will respond to ciprofloxacin.

News

/ Jan 24, 2019

Clinical flow cytometry supported by new 10-colour system

Beckman Coulter has launched the ClearLLab 10C System for the clinical flow cytometry laboratory. The new system includes the first 10-colour CE-IVD panels of immunophenotyping reagents for both lymphoid and myeloid lineages. The ClearLLab 10C System incorporates the company’s new Kaluza C software to streamline and standardize clinical QC reporting to international guidelines.

News

/ Jan 24, 2019

Childhood leukaemia distinct from adult disease

Scientists have identified and modelled a distinct biology for paediatric acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), one of the major causes of death in children. The breakthrough research, from the University of Glasgow’s Institute of Cancer Sciences, published in Nature Communications, significantly advances understanding of the disease and provides potential for developing specific treatment strategies for this childhood cancer, which is currently treated with therapies extrapolated from adult practice.

News

/ Jan 11, 2019

Gonorrhoea and antimicrobial resistance

So-called super-gonorrhoea has hit the headlines once again with a report of two patients infected with a version of the sexually transmitted disease that is resistant to the first-choice antibiotics, which is a combination of azithromycin and ceftriaxone. The cases are not related to the world's ‘worst case’, which was detected in the UK in 2018 after the patient returned from a trip to South East Asia.

News

/ Jan 10, 2019

Congress 2019: new content and more choice introduced

Congress 2019 is going to offer the most ambitious programme the Institute of Biomedical Science has ever hosted, which will be published at the beginning of February. Owing to the success in 2017 of the new Sunday programme, the Institute will once again start the Congress programme on the Sunday (13.00, 22 September) with four key lecture programmes: Education and Training, Quality Management, Molecular Pathology and a practical microscopy workshop for cytologists.

News

/ Jan 10, 2019

Clinical and Laboratory Haemostasis two-day meeting: a 2019 preview

The UK NEQAS for Blood Coagulation Clinical and Laboratory Haemostasis meeting will return to Sheffield Hallam University on 5-6 June. This annual scientific and scheme participants' meeting attracts speakers and delegates from across the UK and abroad; and meeting reports are a regular feature of Pathology in Practice content.

News

/ Jan 10, 2019

Insights into magnetic bacteria: guiding new research

Researchers have long-studied magnetotactic bacteria (MTB): aquatic microbes that have the ability to orientate themselves to magnetic fields. This unusual behaviour makes them a subject of interest for improving the understanding of biomagnetism, and potentially harnessing their abilities for future technologies, such as medical nanorobots.

News

/ Dec 18, 2018

Optical calibration of PCR cyclers patented in USA

CYCLERtest has announced that its patent for the optical calibration of quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) cyclers is now also granted in the USA, and complements similar patents held by CYCLERtest in Europe and Japan.

News

/ Dec 18, 2018

Versatility of LIMS in a Veterinary Laboratory

The Agrihealth Group of companies has utilised the Matrix Gemini Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) from Autsocribe Informatics to accommodate two different aspects of its business. A new case study shows how Matrix Gemini is managing the requirements of Agrihealth’s laboratory services and has also streamlined the company’s veterinary services processes.

News

/ Dec 18, 2018

Goal reached by 100,000 Genomes Project

The 100,000 Genomes Project, led by Genomics England in partnership with NHS England, has reached its goal of sequencing 100,000 whole genomes from NHS patients. This ground-breaking programme was launched in 2012, with the goal of harnessing whole-genome sequencing technology to uncover new diagnoses and improved treatments for patients with rare inherited diseases and cancer.

News

/ Dec 18, 2018

Global direct sales and support of FISH expanded by OGT

Oxford Gene Technology (OGT) has expanded its direct sales of Cytocell fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) products to include the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. OGT will provide customers in Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Australia, and New Zealand with enhanced local sales and support services via established affiliates of Sysmex, as well as via continued collaboration with existing distributors. The move follows the successful introduction of selling via a number of European Sysmex affiliates earlier this year.

News

/ Dec 06, 2018

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Recent advances in cancer diagnostics

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