Ijcke Schaepman reports on a a new series of non-glass pH probes which are virtually unbreakable. they also give faster, safer and more reliable measurements.

Much of Europe's major investment in IT is being made by pharmaceutical and bioscience companies. While a new survey shows that this investment will continue to grow, some companies are turning to grid computing in a strategy that saves money and could prove good business for CROs too.

Thanks to the mass production of optical fibres, the development of low-cost detectors and optics, and the emergence of PCs, spectroscopy has expanded beyond the lab and into the field.

Small, inexpensive spectrometers make feasible applications that were previously cost prohibitive.

High-precision optics and micro-tools are making manipulation on a tiny scale possible. But to simplify their task, laboratory scientists have long been demanding an automated tool that integrates microscopes with micromanipulators. A new transgenic platform aims to meet these needs.

The Cytocentrifuge-Cytospin 4 is a versatile processing system suitable for use in the fields of immunohistochemistry, fluorescence and in situ hybridisation, in vitro chemosensitivity and rapid viral testing.

When one of the world's major pharmaceutical companies decides to streamline its enterprise-wide purchasing processes, it needs a solution that is rich in product data, requisition consolidation, reporting and catalogue management, and one that is capable of integration with other enterprise software systems.

The use of serum-free media has been well established in tissue culture. It is commonly used to culture many cell lines, including primary cells, cancerous cells, and various transfected cells.

Any changes in legislation can prove to be a burden on the laboratory, both in terms of administration and in terms of methods of working. In the UK, for example, the introduction of the new

ISO 17025 standard has brought with it major headaches.

The use of chemical products in the laboratory is a risk from which any user must be protected. Breathing everyday small quantities of chemical products, in the medium or long term, is a health hazard.

Preparing protein crystals has always been difficult because their growth mechanisms are not well understood. A better insight into these mechanisms is now possible, using a new imaging method based on coherent x-ray diffraction.

For many applications in the areas of forensics, pharmaceuticals, life sciences and semiconductor development it is essential to analyse two-dimensional samples by infrared (IR) spectroscopy with high spatial resolution.

Abhay Patki shows how a novel amplification strategy provides a rapid, simple and versatile method for preparing DNA templates that can be used directly in cycle sequencing reactions with no need for purification. Its simple format eliminates the multiple steps of commonly used template preparation schemes and allows DNA template preparation and sequencing to be completed in a single day.

Competition in all chemical related markets, ie pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, fine chemicals etc. has put considerable pressure on the development of new compounds.

When one of the main organisations involved in the Human

Genome Project needed to change its refrigeration strategy, lack of space and the demand for first-class reliability meant that a novel technical solution was required.

A complete solution to fume and gas extraction issues arising in the chemical, medical and electronics industries, as well as in workshops, schools and laboratories, is now being offered by Nederman Ltd.

Over-engineering in pharmaceutical companies is pushing up the cost of drugs. But these could be lowered, saving as much as £3 million on a £20 million plant.

Bio-safety testing programmes span the product cycle from early pre-clinical development through to licensed production. Application of quantitative polymerase chain reaction (Q-PCR) technology within this industry is now well established.