Article • Politics
Antimicrobial resistance: reaching out to the UN
A global spotlight has at last highlighted the truly acute problem of antimicrobial resistance.
Article • Infections
Carbapenem resistant strains
The increasing numbers of bacteria resistant to the newer generations of antibiotics is a public health problem on a global scale. Bacteria have an extraordinary capacity for adaptation, mutating permanently to overcome the action of our increasingly impotent antimicrobial armamentarium. A situation further aggravated by the use of the powerful ‘large spectrum’ antibiotics, creating further…
Sponsored • Visionary thinking.
JADAK: redefining data collection within the healthcare market
From barcode scanning, RFID and medical machine vision to chart recorders, thermal printers and spectroscopy products, JADAK designs and manufactures embedded solutions that help customers solve unique inspection, tracking, scanning and documenting challenges.
News • Chronic Viral Infection
Inflammation triggers unsustainable immune response
Scientists at the University of Basel discovered a fundamental new mechanism explaining the inadequate immune defense against chronic viral infection. These results may open up new avenues for vaccine development.
Diabetic biomarker test successfully verified
EKF Diagnostics announces that its newly introduced Glycated Serum Protein (GSP) LiquiColor® diabetic biomarker test has been verified for use on the Siemens Vista chemistry analyzer. In a scientific poster published by scientists at the Memorial Healthcare System, Hollywood, USA [1], it was demonstrated that EKF’s GSP assay enhances the versatility of the Vista system for the specialized…
News • Fatal Heart Condition
Dangerous drug interactions uncovered with data science
Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center and the Data Science Institute at Columbia University have uncovered a potentially dangerous drug interaction using data science.
News • memristor
First demonstration of brain-inspired device to power artificial systems
New research, led by the University of Southampton, has demonstrated that a nanoscale device, called a memristor, could be used to power artificial systems that can mimic the human brain.
News • Neurodegenerative diseases
Brain cell ‘executioner’ identified
Despite their different triggers, the same molecular chain of events appears to be responsible for brain cell death from strokes, injuries and even such neurodegenerative diseases as Alzheimer's. Now, researchers at Johns Hopkins say they have pinpointed the protein at the end of that chain of events, one that delivers the fatal strike by carving up a cell's DNA. The find, they say, potentially…
BioLOGICAL Customer Magazine
‘BioLogical’ is the name of the new customer magazine by Greiner Bio-One. It will be published biannually and provide you with the latest findings on current topics and information about relevant innovative product developments – content designed specifically to appeal to medical, laboratory researcher or academic professionals.
News • Oncology
Nanoparticle creates ‘wave of destruction’ in cancer cells
Nanoparticles known as Cornell dots, or C dots, have shown great promise as a therapeutic tool in the detection and treatment of cancer. Now, the ultrasmall particles – developed more than a dozen years ago by Ulrich Wiesner, the Spencer T. Olin Professor of Engineering at Cornell University – have shown they can do something even better: kill cancer cells without attaching a cytotoxic drug.
Artificial blood vessels can grow with the recipient
In a groundbreaking new study led by University of Minnesota biomedical engineers, artificial blood vessels bioengineered in the lab and implanted in young lambs are capable of growth within the recipient. If confirmed in humans, these new vessel grafts would prevent the need for repeated surgeries in some children with congenital heart defects.
News • Microscopy
Watching molecular machines at work
When one cell divides into two - that is how all forms of life are propagated - the newly born daughter cells have to be equipped with everything they will need in their tiny lives. Most important of all is that they inherit a complete copy of the genetic information from their mother cell. If this is not the case because a wrong number of chromosomes – on which the genetic information is…
News • Quality Control
Acusera Live Online Version 1.6
We are delighted to announce the launch of Acusera 24.7 Live Online Version 1.6, now featuring the automatic calculation of Measurement Uncertainty, Total Error and Sigma Metrics as part of our ongoing growth and development.
Sponsored • Fully automated
RX Modena – Welcome to the Modena Era
The newest addition to the RX series, the RX modena, is a high volume, fully automated clinical chemistry analyser that promises to revolutionise your laboratory and transform diagnostics.
News • For tissue engineering
Technique generates human neural stem cells
Tufts University researchers have discovered a new technique for generating rapidly-differentiating human neural stem cells for use in a variety of tissue engineering applications, including a three-dimensional model of the human brain, according to a paper published in Stem Cell Reports. The work could pave the way for experiments that engineer other innervated tissues, such as the skin and…
Article • Research
First accurate simulation of a virus invading a cell
For the first time, scientists know what happens to a virus’ shape when it invades a host cell, thanks to an experiment by researchers at Penn State College of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Understanding how the virus shape specifically changes could lead to more effective anti-viral therapies.
Article • Future changes
Laboratory medicine is an interdisciplinary subject
‘Lab medicine connects’ is the congress theme of the German Congress of Laboratory Medicine and reflects the fact that laboratory medicine is an interdisciplinary subject like no other and connects those who are involved in medicine across disciplines. It works almost imperceptibly in the background, hardly noticed by patients. European Hospital spoke with this year’s Congress President,…
Solid-State nanopores unravel twisted DNA mystery
Cancer thrives when mutated cells undergo frequent division. Most anti-cancer drugs work by inserting themselves in between the DNA base pairs that encode our genetic information. This process is known as intercalation, and it can result in subtle changes to the DNA molecule’s geometric shape or tertiary structure. These structural changes interfere with the DNA’s transcription and a cell’s…
Mobile fridge could save lives
A mobile fridge invented by a British student could help save countless lives across the globe. The “Isobar” has been designed to keep vaccines at the required temperatures when being transported around developing countries.
News • Oncology
Potential new biomarker for cancer patient prognosis
To treat or not to treat? That is the question researchers at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) hope to answer with a new advance that could help doctors and their cancer patients decide if a particular therapy would be worth pursuing.
News • Diabetes
Recommended blood pressure targets are being challenged
The Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare recently raised the recommended target blood pressure for patients with diabetes. This may lead to more patients suffering from stroke or heart attack, according to a new study from the Sahlgrenska Academy. The new study is the world’s largest on the subject and is based on data from the National Diabetes Register.
News • Oncology
Infra-red light to deteact early signs of oesophageal cancer
Researchers at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute sprayed a dye on oesophageal tissue samples taken from people with Barrett’s oesophagus – a condition that increases the risk of developing oesophageal cancer. The dye sticks to healthy oesophageal cells but not to pre-cancerous cells. They then shone near-infrared light - which is just beyond the red colours that our eyes can normally…
News • Mysterious Actinium
Short-Lived Isotope Provides New Possibilities for Cancer Treatment
A recent paper published in Nature Communications reveals insights about the element actinium that could support new classes of anticancer drugs. The experiment was conducted by the Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory in collaboration with the DOE's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.
News • Tissue Infection
Curetis launches next generation CE-IVD Unyvero Implant
Curetis N.V. announced the successful completion of the CE Performance Evaluation study of the next generation of its Unyvero ITI Implant and Tissue Infection Application Cartridge (Unyvero ITI).
News • Paediatric
Leukaemia Blood Testing Has 'Massive Potential'
Researchers at The University of Manchester have unlocked the potential of a new test which could revolutionise the way doctors diagnose and monitor a common childhood Leukaemia. Dr Suzanne Johnson says that cancerous acute lymphoblastic leukaemia cells produce and release special structures that can be traced in the blood. The discovery could have major implications on the diagnosis, monitoring,…
