As contract research organisations become increasingly involved with clinical trials, their logistics take on a new importance.A newly-launched initiative aims to reduce both the time andcost involved in this biomedical transport.

Early stages of drug discovery efforts are dependent on the identification and production of high-quality drug target proteins, the rapid screening of compound libraries against these targets, and the generation of preliminary absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) and toxicology data for the lead compounds. Alex Vodenlich reports.

The pharmaceutical industry is an international marketplace. With dedicated central laboratories in the UK and US, alliances in Asia, South Africa and Australia, CentraLabS can offer a truly global service. By Dr Daniel Chapple.

Jack Elands reports on a the strategies needed to deliver maximum value from the amountsof electronic data now used by pharmaceutical and biotech companies.

Members of the genus Mycoplasma are the smallest organisms that are capable of self-replication. They are known to cause various diseases as well as myriad problems in tissue culture. Incidence of mycoplasma contamination in cell culture has been reported to be somewhere between 5 per cent and16 per cent, depending on the source. Given the scope of mycoplasma infection, it is prudent for researchers to take precautions to avoid it, and when infection is suspected, to confirm and eliminate the infection as soon as possible.

The demand for pure water in media preparation and washing materials for mammalian cell culture is well established. J F Pilette reports.

A lot of synthesis are still done in a sequential way using three neck flasks with reflux condensers, gas supply taps, stirring motors and heating bathes. Syntheses in is way are very time consuming and costly.

ELGA LabWater, the laboratory water purification specialist, has launched the DV25 and DV35 docking vessels to complement and add to the flexibility of its PURELAB Prima, PURELAB Option and MEDICA water purification systems.

Most of the rapid tests are sandwich immuno assays indicating the analyte via the intensity of a colored line. Professional users are competent to evaluate more or less intensive discolorations which indicate a yes or no result.

Weighing hazardous or potent substances within conventional fume cupboards is problematic. The design of standard cabinets creates a roll in the airflow, which disrupts the operation of sensitive analytical balances. Now available through Anachem is a new design of fume hood that eliminates turbulence, allowing top loading, analytical, semi-micro and micro balances to be used accurately and in safety.

High cost and poor performance have hampered development ofFT-IR imaging technology in the past. All that could change withthe development of new detector technology. At the same time, advances in NIR technology have produced a portable analyser capable of laboratory-quality results.

Polymer Laboratories has launched a new high precision particle size distribution analyser, the PL-PSDA, which uses the principle of particle fractionation.

Sugars and salt determinations are two of the most commonly performed analysis in food laboratories, yet they often give cause of most concern. This is because in many laboratories these determinations are performed using traditional methods such as flame photometers or manual titration using a colourmetric end point.

NIST has produced Standard Reference Materials for calibrating the wavelength scale and verifying the absorbance accuracy of UV/Visible spectrophotometers for several decades. Recently, the NIST production capacity has become insufficient to meet demand and a programme has been developed to leverage NIST measurement capability through the private sector. By Lesley DeLong.

John Curling reports on the use of affinity chromatography in protein research and development.

Cell Culture Technologies GmbH, a biotech company specialising in the development and application of mammalian cell culture systems for the production of biologicals in fully synthetic, serum and protein-free culture environments.

Dr Achim Gessler looks at the problems associated with control and monitoring during the process analysis of fruit and vegetable juices.

The IR300 FT-IR spectrometer is the newest generation of the rugged and reliable instruments designed by Thermo Mattson for routine analysis. This system is suitable for environments that demand simplicity and dependability from their instrumentation.

The structural characterisation of biotechnology products presents a challenge for modern analytical techniques. In contrast to small molecule drugs, biopharmaceuticals can be extremely large, complex entities, often comprising of multiple disulphide-bridged proteins or glycoproteins.In particular, these products demand the use of methods capable of determining the primary structure of a recombinant or engineered molecule and of detecting and assigning post-translational modifications and microheterogeneities. By Dr Fiona M Greer.

Eric Russell looks at the increasing use of MALDI-TOFspectrometers in the laboratory environment and are nowthe instruments of choice for the analysis of proteins,peptides, oligonucleotides and synthetic polymers.