RECENT NEWS

HORIBA UK, Medical recently received recognition for a new partnership with Britannia Pharmaceuticals and Northumberland Tyne & Wear Mental Health Trust (NTW) for community-based near-patient testing for treatment-resistant schizophrenia patients.

Oxford Gene Technology (OGT), a Sysmex Group company, has announced the expansion of its SureSeq range of next-generation sequencing (NGS) panels to facilitate the interrogation of genes involved in breast and ovarian cancer, and myeloid disorders.

ViroStat has released several new monoclonal antibodies to the Marburg virus. Specificities include the VP40 matrix protein and the nucleoprotein (NP). These antibodies are reactive with the native virus and do not cross-react with the Ebola virus.

The IBMS has been monitoring the progress of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and particularly its impact on the biomedical science workforce and the diagnostic services it provides, and has decided to reschedule its Congress event to 14–17 March 2022.

A breakthrough in Alzheimer’s disease has arrived with the introduction of C2N Diagnostics’ PrecivityAD blood test. Researchers at C2N have found the PrecivityAD test predicts Alzheimer’s brain pathology in people with memory and thinking issues.

Infectious disease emergence is often the result of a pathogen entering a new host species, as highlighted by the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. However, most cross-species transmissions fail to establish in the newly-infected species.

Recently launched by Bio-Rad Laboratories, the StarBright Blue 700, StarBright Violet 440 and StarBright Violet 610 dyes specifically developed for flow cytometry offer maximal brightness for improved resolution.

Congratulations are due to Dr Guy Orchard, a consultant biomedical scientist at St Thomas' Hospital, who was awarded the prestigious IBMS-sponsored Biomedical Scientist of the Year award at this year's virtual AH awards ceremony.

Science Communication: An Introduction; this is a book that provides a broad, up-to-date and coherent introduction to science communication. Click on this news item to learn more and to register for the associated webinar (4 November, 1.00 pm GMT).

Held on 19–23 October, analytica 2020 successfully concluded five days of virtual trade fair and presentations having welcomed 21,641 participants from 152 nations.

Institute of Biomedical Science President Allan Wilson has been appointed Lead Clinician for the Scottish Cervical Screening Programme.

National Pathology Week, The Royal College of Pathologists’ annual celebration of activities and events promoting the disciplines and professions in pathology, will take place on 2–8 November.

INTEGRA Biosciences’ VIAFILL reagent dispenser complements magnetic particle processors such as ThermoFisher’s KingFisher system, streamlining workflows for extraction and purification of nucleic acids.

Proscia, a leading provider of digital and computational pathology solutions, has announced that the Joint Pathology Center (JPC), the premiere pathology reference unit for the US government, has selected Proscia’s Concentriq platform.

Disappointingly, but predictably within the current pandemic conditions, the organisers of Microbe have taken the decision to cancel the 2021 event.

Syngene, a leader in image analysis, has announced that a new release of its GeneSys image capture software is available free of charge to users of Syngene imaging systems.

Cyted, a developer and provider of artificial intelligence (AI) technology and digital diagnostic infrastructure to enable earlier detection of disease, has acquired Pathognomics, a provider of digital pathology and clinical diagnostics services.

For laboratories wishing to quantify factor VIII activity, a ready-to-use chromogenic factor VIII assay is now available from Alpha Laboratories. The CRYOcheck assay is designed for ease of use and to minimise reagent waste.

Calibre Scientific has acquired UK-based Lorne Laboratories, a specialty manufacturer of blood grouping reagents and diagnostic test kits, and a distributor of related laboratory equipment, enzymes and biochemical.

Sakura Finetek Europe has launched its latest innovation, Tissue-Tek SmartConnect, which enables fully automated continuous flow by connecting tissue processing and embedding in the histopathology laboratory.