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Thursday, 07 February 2008 |
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Laser ablation electrospray ionization, or LAESI, a recently developed macromolecule analysis method, combines laser ionization with mass spectrometry and is set to make analyizing everything from urine to luggage to in-vivo cells as easy as, well, analyzing pie. Here are the basics: a laser vaporizes a small amount of material, the material is ionized and the ionized material is then measured via mass spectrometry. The novelty of this process is that it can be done virtually anywhere. The instrument takes up only desktop space and engineers are working to reduce this even further. Electrospray ionization earned John Fenn part of the Nobel Prize in chemistry in '02. For a more detailed article, click here. For more on Fenn and the technology that won him a Nobel Prize, go here .
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Stem Cell Sorting Just Got Easier |
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Thursday, 07 February 2008 |
The interdisciplinary nature of bio-medical science played a central role in another development in the world of flow cytometry. Lisa Flanagan, Jente Lu, and a team of engineers at University of California Irvine have developed a device no bigger than a dime that uses the unique dielectric properties of stem cells to separate them from their progenitors by electrophoresis. Mouse neural stem cells, differentiated neurons and differentiated astrocytes were used in their study and the results are promising. The device can be used on its own and has the potential to be used in conjunction with flow cytometers. To see dielectric properties at work, check out the video below or read about electrophoresis!
To see the device or learn more about the UCI team, click here.
To see the abstract as published in Stem Cell click here.
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Thursday, 07 February 2008 |
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For those of you who have never witnessed it, here is a video of microbeads being dammed by an optical tweezer. Read more about optical tweezers here .
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Wednesday, 06 February 2008 |
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The ink might still be drying on the contract papers, but the MoFloTM XDP Cell Sorter and CyAnTM ADP Analyzer, among other former Dakocytomation products, are already listed on the Beckman Coulter website. The acquistion of Dakocytomation by Beckman Coulter is not the first, nor is it likely to be the last, aquisition to occur in flow cytometry. Undeniably, the industry is growing. Biocompare, a market research firm, predicted in 2006 that by 2008 the flow cytometry market will eclipse $1.3 billion, and more growth is expected in the near future. This is good news for cytometrists, instrument and reagent vendors and, of course, for those who benefit from the invaluable research and development that flow cytometry has brought to the fore. But growth and the inevitability of acquisitions can be of concern. Beckman Coulter and BD Biosciences together comprise 80% of the market share.1 With market share of this magnitude, it might not be long before the flow cytometry industry experiences an equivalent of Microsoft's current attempt to buy Yahoo!. Share your thoughts or concerns with others in the forum.
A full article about the Beckman Coulter/Dakocytomation transaction can be found here.
Want to get a unique and fresh perspective on the psychology of large corporations? Check out Michael Shermer's recent Scientific American article here.
1. Flow Cytometry: Current Trends and Future Outlook, Market Research Report by Biocompare. April, 2006.
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