A biotechnology research company in Australia has developeda new, patented method to create cell lines that produce totally human monoclonal antibodies and other proteins of therapeuticand commercial interest, such as cytokines and cytokine receptors. Professor Hans Coster reports on a market which could be worth at least $5 billion.

While passive absorption techniques have their benefits, manyother strategies are being developed for the surface attachment of proteins. Dr Jean Emly looks at one such strategy, covalent coupling of molecules, proteins, as well as peptides and DNA, and the success it is having with anthraquinone involved in the immobilisation process.

The quantitative analysis of nucleric acid sequences is currently a major issue for basic molecular biology, life sciences industry and many other emerging fields, This type of analytical techniques also represents a wide potential market for specialised products, kits, apparatuses or integrated systems involving both dedicated apparatuses and consumables. Dr Alberto Domingo reports.

Until now, most of the attention in genomics has been on sequencing. But in functional genomics sequence information alone is not enough to lead to important new drug and diagnostic discoveries. It is critical to understand how genes work, how and when they are expressed and what roles they play in health and disease. By Klaus Kristensen and Torben F Ørntoft.

Good control of sample temperature during evaporation is required to achieve reasonably fast drying times and to ensure that the samples cannot be damaged by over heating. By Michael Cole.

Locked nucleic acid (LNA) forms exceptionally thermostabile duplexes with complementary DNA and RNA and has the potential to improve current in vitro DNA diagnostic technologies and therapeutic drug development. Report by Jan Skouv, Henrik Ørum and Mogens Havsteen Jakobsen.

While product viability over time is an important consideration, calorimetry has not been a popular tool for its study in the past. Now, however, a new technique has been developed to determine stability of low molecular weight materials in both aqueous and non-aqueous solvents. Its primary application areas include drug formulation and stability.

The new generation of Variomag reaction blocks, with heating and cooling function produced by H+P Labortechnik GmbH, enables defined stirring, fast heating up to 200oC and ­ if a cryostat is used ­ cooling to -80oC.

Contract research organisations (CROs) are evolving. No longer content with individual research projects, they are moving further into mainstream pharmaceutical activities. Sean Ottewell looksat recent developments and finds many CROs are reorganisingin anticipation of a blurring of differences between them and traditional pharmaceutical companies.

In today's growing pharmaceutical industry, professionals need a resource that will assist them in keeping up to date with the latest trends and regulatory changes. With more than 12 000 members throughout 60 countries ISPE, the leading society for healthcare technology professionals, offers forums and services that enhance member's practical knowledge and allow for professionals to share experiences and work together on projects of interest to the industry.

In 2000 we are turning from the century of physics to the century of biology. Transgenetic food, genetic diagnostics and pharmaceuticals in medicine ­ biology and biochemistry weekly confront us with new findings giving rise to new opportunities. By Dr Heidrun Tippe.

Liselotte Larsson looks at the trend for the increased outsourcing of manufacturing biopharmaceuticals and outlines the reasons for this.

High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) has been a mainstay of the laboratory scientist for many years. However,there is a new chromatographic base material which is leadingto dramatic performance improvements, including an extended useful pH range, all without sacrificing the benefits of silica-based chromatographic supports.

High-efficiency silica-based packings have been used in high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) since 1973. Over the past 27 years, says Sylvie Mamon, many improvements have been made to the technology of these packings.

The EFOS Lite, from Jenton International, is a small area curing system suitable for use in manual precision medical device assembly environments.

Today the demands of separation devices are higher than ever before. Increasing productivity in high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), through higher sample throughput and reduced analytical time, is one of the major challenges with which analysts are faced.

Dr W. Kraas reports.

As laboratories focus increasingly on cost and quality, instrument linking software is becoming more applicable. With changes in technology, there has been a move towards client/server architectures and an almost universal use of PCs. Here, Phil Goddard looks at some of the technical and commercial reasons for the continued growth in this area.

During the past 20 years competition between individual testing laboratories has increased partially due to pressure from large clients seeking greater value ­ more quality testing for less money. Clients, writes Karl G Ekstrom, look for laboratories that are able to offer high quality on a large number of tests, creating aapproved vendor' lists in order to maintain a smaller, highly qualified supplier base.

Pressure on companies to deliver accurate and uniform clinical laboratory data has caused a significant growthof the use of central laboratories for clinical trials.Jaap H M Dijkman reports.

Real-time microbiology, just more jargon or does it really offer benefits to the microbiologist? Dr Peter Silley reports.