This week the Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening (SLAS) is hosting SLAS2012, a conference dedicated to technical innovation and laboratory automation. Different fields in laboratory technology like high-throughput technologies, micro- and nanotechnologies, bioanalytical techniques and informatics are covered. SLAS2012 also hosts an exhibition with companies from around the world showcasing their latest innovative technologies and of course some new product launches.

Here is a short summary of some of the new equipment launched at this event:

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Ever since the Danish bacteriologist Hans Christian Gram developed his eponymous test (the Gram stain) in 1882 to differentiate between types of bacteria, diagnostic tests have been integral to both public and individual health. The ability to rapidly and accurately detect microbes is becoming increasingly important given the emergence of diverse drug resistant strains, such as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA; Gram positive bacteria resembling purple grapes), as well as the length of time it currently takes to diagnose and treat certain infections (e.g. Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which cannot be detected via Gram stain but rather an acid-fast stain, has an incredibly slow doubling time which is why it can take weeks to accurately diagnose tuberculosis). In recent years genomic technologies have fortunately opened the doors for faster and more accurate detection of microbes than petri dish cultures and chemical staining can provide. Medgadget had the opportunity to interview two partner companies – PathoGenetix and Sagentia – that are developing a state-of-the-art Genome Sequence Scanning (GSS) technology, which promises to bring rapid microbial detection to the fields of microbial genomics research, food and product safety, and clinical infectious disease testing.

Shiv Gaglani, Medgadget: How many micro-organisms can be detected through the partnership technology?

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Charter Medical, a part of Lydall (Manchester, CT), received the EU CE Mark for its Cell Freeze cryogenic storage containers for Hematopoietic Progenitor Cells (HPC’s). The devices, which were approved just over a year ago in the U.S., can safely go down to -200° C and handle temperature changes common to stem cell applications. They’re available in sizes from 50 mL to 750 mL.

Press release: Charter Medical Receives CE Mark Clearance for Next Generation Cell Freeze(R) Cryogenic Stem Cell Storage Containers

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DNA sequencing is slowly making the long anticipated move from the research lab into clinical use. After a few isolated reports last year where it was used to diagnose individual patients, now we see one of the first reports of it being used successfully on a larger scale, in 42 infants suspected of mitochondrial disease.

Mitochondria carry their own DNA but also rely on nuclear DNA for part of their functioning, and mutations in either of the two can cause malfunctioning of the mitochondria. Mitochondrial diseases may lead to a wide variety of symptoms and can be hard to diagnose, despite recent advances in genetic and biochemical tests.

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Researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have developed a new laboratory test that can rapidly identify Staphylococcus aureus in blood cultures. This new test takes advantage of unique isotopic labeling combined with specific bacteriophage amplification.

Before bacteria can be identified in a blood sample, they have to be multiplied enough times to reach detection thresholds and be incubated at least 18 to 24 hours. The new method, published in Molecular and Cellular Proteomics this month, reduces valuable culturing time to only two hours. The identification method takes advantage of the faster replication rate of viruses that can infect bacteria. A nitrogen-15 labeled bacteriophage is added to the test which specifically targets living Staphylococcus aureus cells. The phage replicates inside the bacteria and reaches the detection threshold much quicker. The phage proteins that were introduced with nitrogen-15 labels can be distinguished from the freshly replicated virus particles created in the S. aureus host cells. With mass spectrometry, a protein identification technique based on the mass and charge ratio of peptide fragments, the phage proteins can easily be detected. By comparing the labeled with the new replicated phage particles it is possible to calculate the number of original S. aureus host cells in the test sample.

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St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has launched a website for published research results from its partnership with  Washington University in the Pediatric Cancer Genome Project (PCGP). This project aims to sequence the entire genomes of normal and cancer cells from pediatric cancer patients. By comparing differences in the DNA they want to identify genetic mistakes that can lead to cancer in children.

The website, named Explore, is easily accessible and offers detailed visualization of the data that will make it easier to obtain a good overview of all the information. Explore is also designed to make it easier to search published results from the PCGP.

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We recently reported on a probe developed by IBM that will allow pathologists to take smaller biopsies. Now there may be a way to perform such histology faster, at least for brain studies. The conventional technique is to freeze a fluorescence-tagged whole brain or fix it in paraffin wax and then proceed to meticulously slice it into hundreds or thousands of micron-wide sections that are then mounted on slides and imaged. This takes huge investments of time and effort, so scientists usually focus on mapping specific regions of interest (e.g. cortex or amygdala). At least one project, the Allen Brain Atlas, emerged in response with the goal to map the entire mouse brain so that all researchers may rely upon it for their work.

Similar atlases may now be created even faster thanks to researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, who announced in Nature Methods the development of a novel technique that automates and accelerates histological sectioning for 3D brain-mapping. Known as serial two-photon (STP) tomography, the technique

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Based upon the binding specificity of antibodies to target molecules, immunohistochemistry (IHC) has been used in labs for decades to research protein expression, or lack thereof, in tissue samples. It’s a great example of a translational technique that is being used every day in hospital pathology labs around the world to, for example, classify tumor biopsies based on diagnostic markers. This in turn informs the prognosis and treatment options for the patient from whom the biopsy was taken. However IHC remains a tedious process that involves multiple conjugation steps to bind antibodies to and color-code the target molecules; mistakes can lead to over- and under-exposure which renders the sample unusable and inconclusive.

The technique may have just gotten more sensitive thanks to IBM researchers. Reporting in today’s online issue of Lab on a Chip, the team has developed an ultra-miniaturized probe for immunohistochemistry. According to the press release:

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Researchers at the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University have been investigating the use of a new 3D cell imaging technology called Cell-CT to characterize subtle changes in a cell’s nuclear structure in order to improve the diagnostic accuracy and prognosis for breast cancer.

Cell-CT uses optical projection tomography to render cells in 3D and is developed by VisionGate, Inc. out of Phoenix Arizona. The Cell-CT appears to be in the process of commercialization and its operation is described on the company’s product page and demonstrated quite nicely in the video below.

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In our recent best of 2011 post, we wrote about the plummeting costs of genome sequencing, and just days into the new year another big leap has been taken. Today, Ion Torrent, a division of Life Technologies, made the announcement that it will be launching the Ion Proton Sequencer later this year, a benchtop sequencer that sequences the entire human genome in one day for just $1,000. It is the successor to the company’s PGM (Personal Genome Machine) which was introduced just over a year ago.

Just like with the previous iteration, semiconductor chips form the heart of the machine. CMOS chips are used similar to those found in digital cameras, but that detect chemical changes instead of light. Two such sequencing chips have been announced: The Ion Proton I chip, which is intended for sequencing exomes, has 165 million sensors and will be available mid-2012. The Ion Proton II Chip, specifically marketed for sequencing whole human genomes, has 660 million sensors (about a 50-fold more than the previous leading 318-chip) and will be available about six months later. The Ion Proton OneTouch system will automate template preparation and a stand-alone Ion Proton Torrent Server performs the primary and secondary data analysis. Altogether this means yet another significant increase in speed and reduction of the cost of genome-level sequencing.

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