Selected issue: 1/2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced everyone to look at laboratory routines to see if they are really pandemic proof. For example, the explosive demand for high throughput genomic analysis often creates upstream pressures to process many more samples...

Precision medicine is potentially revolutionizing diagnostics and treatment by targeting mutations that are specific to individual patients with various diseases, including cancer. The Institute of Pathology and Neuropathology at the Essen...

Laboratories working in the field of in vitro diagnostics (IVD) must comply with increasing accreditation requirements that may vary from country to country. For US-based Inova Diagnostics, the challenge was to provide a family of automated...

Precise liquid handling is critical to both research and routine analysis in a laboratory environment, requiring accurate transfer of samples, reagents and buffers from one container to another to ensure consistent results. For applications such as...

Interest and research into the human microbiome have boomed in recent years, and it is now known that the bacteria that colonize the gut of animals and humans play vital functions in health and disease. Despite this, scientists have only just begun...

It has been estimated that, by 2050, the world will need to produce 70% more food than in 2005, and will need 50% more fresh water and fuel, while reducing CO₂ emissions by 100%. These are massive global challenges that are not going to be solved by...

Blood testing is ideal for a wide range of analytes, but it has limitations for hormone analysis. In Canada, FLUIDS iQ has turned to saliva as an alternative test matrix, which is proving an excellent choice for measuring the bioavailability of a...

In a post-pandemic world, the need for real-time and remote connectivity is more crucial than ever. Today’s laboratory equipment and analyzers are capable of generating more data than ever before, creating new challenges for data processing and...

Food intolerances can have a major impact on the working and social life of an individual, affecting up to 45 % of the population. Unlike allergies, where a symptom appears as soon as a certain food is eaten, intolerances – chemical reactions that...

Genetic screening is used during pregnancy to look for hereditary conditions due to a chromosomal abnormality – such as Down’s syndrome – or changes in the DNA sequences, and typically involves an invasive amniocentesis procedure. Yourgene Health,...

Aqsens Health is focused on developing non-invasive screening and diagnostic tests based on enhanced time-resolved fluorescence for health monitoring and detection of serious diseases, such as cancer, where early diagnosis is vital. With an...

SARS-CoV-2 has hit the world by storm and testing has had a major part to play in the fight against the virus, helping to track cases and slow rates of infection. ABC Labs, based at the Karolinska campus in Stockholm, was founded soon after the...

The potential of ‘omics’ to further our understanding of cell biology and disease progression has been discussed for over 30 years, but these technologies have so far failed to translate to a healthcare setting. One of the major challenges has been...