RECENT NEWS

Immediate and accurate tests to diagnose and monitor bleeding and blood clotting disorders could soon be available at every GP’s surgery.

The National Comparative Audit Programme includes a series of audits of the safe and appropriate use of blood. It is operated in collaboration with the Clinical Effectiveness and Evaluation Unit of the Royal College of Physicians. All hospitals in England are invited to participate in the audits, and those in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland are invited to participate through the blood services in those countries.

A large-scale survey of Africans in England shows that targeted human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention services are required to improve people’s confidence and skills, in order for them to avoid catching HIV or passing it on.

Existing guidelines for control of Clostridium difficile should be reviewed following recent epidemics in several European countries linked to a new hypervirulent strain, according to a recent European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) report.

A Kent woman committed to inspiring young people to engage with science has been selected to represent Pfizer in a global initiative to promote the human issues and faces behind scientific research.

“Science improves our quality of daily life, underpins prosperity and increases our readiness to face the challenges of the future,” said Ian Pearson, Minister of State for Science and Innovation, recently.

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) has appointed Dr Clive Ronaldson as director of patient services and Andy Young as director of blood donation.

Olympus UK has celebrated the successful implementation of the first UK ‘remote allocation’ blood issuing system at Abergele Hospital, part of the North Wales NHS Trust. The new system uses BloodTrack OnDemand from Olympus, which enables staff to access and monitor blood stocks through remote computer access and intelligent blood storage refrigerators.

Risk assessments are the responsibility of everyone working in an organisation, not just the health and safety manager, and employees have a legal responsibility to cooperate with their employer’s efforts to improve health and safety.

Thermo Fisher Scientific has launched a comprehensive online resource centre for metabolomics researchers. The website provides tools and technical advice to help scientists studying small-molecule metabolite profiles. The Metabolomics Solutions Center enables users to tap into Thermo Fisher’s extensive knowledge of metabolomics in a single, easy-to-navigate location.

The new issue of Lab M’s ‘minicatalogue’ focuses on microbiology in colour, with a review of the transforming effects of chromogenic culture media and highlights from Lab M’s Harlequin chromogenic range.

Syngene has announced that scientists at East Tennessee State University (ETSU) have detected proteins associated with the cytotoxic effects of vitamin E on prostate cancer cells, using Dymension, the company's twodimensional (2D) gel image analysis software.

Sterilin has announced the availability of its rebranded comprehensive catalogue of singleuse plastic and Iwaki tissue culture products.

Lab21, a provider of healthcare diagnostic products and services, has expanded its cancer gene testing service by adding an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene mutation test to its existing range.

In partnership with the Nature Publishing Group, Olympus Microscopy has presented the Neurotechniques Collection. This compilation of articles draws together some of the groundbreaking research published recently in Nature Reviews Neuroscience and Nature Methods, and is available free in print and online.

A new interactive website shines the spotlight on five Eppendorf products recognised for their outstanding design and ergonomics. These include Multipette stream and Multipette Xstream, which won both the coveted red dot design award and an Instrument Business Outlook (IBO) Gold Award, and Mastercycler ep realplex, also honoured with the red dot award for product design.

A company in Israel has invented a ‘kidney pacemaker’ that can extend the life of a diseased kidney before solutions such as dialysis or a transplant need to be considered.

While last month saw the much-reported 60th anniversary of the introduction of the National Health Service, it was also the month in which Louise Brown celebrated her 30th birthday.

The Health Professions Council (HPC) has launched its revised Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics (SCPE) for all registrants and potential registrants. The SCPE are the fundamental standards the HPC considers essential to protect the health and wellbeing of the public.

Scientists funded by the Wellcome Trust have identified a key mechanism that enables malaria-infected red blood cells to stick to the walls of blood vessels and avoid being destroyed by the body’s immune system. The research, published recently in the journal Cell, highlights an important potential new target for antimalarial drugs.