Nitrosamines are a large group of N-nitroso compounds that share a common functional N-N=O group. They are produced by a chemical reaction between a nitrosating agent and a secondary or tertiary amine. Back in 2018, nitrosamines suddenly found themselves in the spotlight when they were unexpectedly detected in medications for high blood pressure. Since then, they have been found in several other prescription medications, including those for heartburn, acid reflux and diabetes, resulting in manufacturers recalling some common medications.
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Nitrosamines: Where are we now?
Nitrosamines are a large group of N-nitroso compounds that share a common functional N-N=O group. They are produced by a chemical reaction between a nitrosating agent and a secondary or tertiary amine. Back in 2018, nitrosamines suddenly found themselves in the spotlight when they were unexpectedly detected in medications for high blood pressure. Since then, they have been found in several other prescription medications, including those for heartburn, acid reflux and diabetes, resulting in manufacturers recalling some common medications.
PFAS analysis in food: a robustness study in sensitivity and stability
The combination of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) testing, trace-level regulatory requirements and complex MS applications can be intimidating. In a recent webinar, now available on demand, SCIEX PFAS expert Craig Butt demonstrated how the new SCIEX 7500+ system can help make PFAS testing easier.
Mass spec data across the cultivated meat value chain
We recently had the opportunity to chat with Alex Ward, PhD, Principal Consultant, Arta Bioanalytics to discover more about his work in developing transcriptomics and metabolomics data interpretation for the cultivated meat sector. As a specialist in multi-omics approaches, Alex is driving R&D, production and regulatory processes for the industry. Below are Alex’s responses to a few questions we asked, sharing his knowledge with the SCIEX community to drive the future of cultivated meat.
The rising tide of food allergies: Common questions and crucial insights
Allergy policies for nut-free commercial flights and nut-free childcare settings are not a rare occurrence nowadays—the reason is a rise in food allergies. Nuts are the most potent allergenic foods in terms of the amount that is required to elicit an allergic reaction and the severity of those reactions.
Methods for OPI electrode cleaning for Echo® MS system electrodes
Depending on the samples you are running on the system, it is possible for the Open Port Interface (OPI) electrode to become dirty or occluded over time. Below are two different cleaning strategies that can help you maintain your Echo® MS system and keep your OPI...
Meat vs plant based. What is the best option?
As we become more conscious about the planet, healthier lifestyles and our duty to protect the environment, attitudes and behaviours are shifting when it comes to food consumption.
Cannabis, sports and the World Anti-Doping Agency
We’ve all heard about the doping scandal that shocked the cycling world at the 1998 Tour de France, right? Well, because of that scandal, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) arranged a World Conference on Doping that brought together all parties involved in the fight against doping. The Lausanne Declaration on Doping in Sport1 was adopted by the conference in February 1999 and included a call for an international anti-doping agency to be operational for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) was established in November 1999 to answer that call.
Cannabis legalization in the UK and the Cannabis Industry Council (CIC)
The legalization of cannabis in the UK is a hot topic as public demand continues to rise. While the UK legalized medical cannabis in late 2018, doctors have so far been reluctant to issue prescriptions.
sMRM Pro Builder template tutorial
The sMRM Pro Builder template is an Excel-based tool that can help you implement large panels of analytes in your lab. The Excel sheet will take your preliminary experimental results and compute retention times, retention time window widths and dwell time weighting to optimize your targeted assay.
Thailand cannabis legalization
Thailand has become the first southeast Asian country to legalize cannabis for medical use. Cannabis was originally introduced into Thailand from India, and until it was outlawed in the 1930s, it was historically used as a kitchen condiment, medicine and source of fiber.
The risky business of aflatoxins in milk
If you’re in the dairy or food testing business, you know the threat aflatoxins pose. Aflatoxins are a type of mycotoxin produced by Aspergillus parasiticus, aspergillus flavus , and rarely aspergillus nomius.1 These are likely the most extensively researched group of mycotoxins because of their adverse health effects.2 What’s more, they are widely found in a variety of crops, namely maize, tree nuts, and spices. Believed to be primarily caused by rising temperatures and humidity, these naturally occurring fungi grow on crops in the field, or during storage of feed and raw materials, where they can potentially produce toxins that enter the food chain.
Molecular sleuthing using mass spectrometry to protect Pacific salmon populations
Read time: 5 minutes When Pacific salmon start to die in large numbers, with no identified cause, people take notice. This concern stems not only from the possibility of an environmental issue that could additionally affect human health, but also, in this case, from...
Mass spectrometer analysis gives you one more reason for taking a shower before swimming!
Read time: 8 minutes Researchers: Wei Wang, Yichao Qian, Jessica M. Boyd, Minghuo Wu, Steve E. Hrudey, Jinhua Li, Birget Moe, Claire F. McGuigan, Shengwen Shen and Xing-Fang Li, University of Alberta (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada), and Haiying Du, Jilin University...
Not all cannabis is created equal: cannabis strains explained
Read time: 4 minutes Cannabis strains not only have different effects, but also serve different purposes. In the mainstream world, cannabis is grouped into 3 distinct strains: Indica, Sativa and hybrid. Indica strains are of Hindu Kush Mountain origins, and they are...
It’s not all rope and leaves: cannabis analysis 101
Read time: 4 minutes Introduction to cannabis: analysis Cannabis is a broad umbrella of classification that includes both hemp and marijuana. Check out a recent blog that lays out the definitions. This blog will focus on the common criteria we look at when conducting...
Quantify more than 700 pesticides in 10 different food matrices
A recent webinar from SCIEX and New Food, presented by Jianru Stahl-Zeng of SCIEX, outlined some of the capabilities of the new SCIEX Triple Quad™ 7500 LC-MS/MS System – QTRAP® Ready. In particular, it highlighted the ability of the SCIEX 7500 System to accurately quantify 700 pesticide residues across 10 different food matrices at ultra-low trace levels. During the webinar, attendees posed various questions. Here, we share the top 5 of these questions, along with their answers.
What’s in your citrus oil?
Craig Butt explains a non-targeted omics approach to characterizing and profiling compounds in citrus oil Read time: 4 minutes There is increasing interest among consumers in the benefits of natural products containing citrus beyond the traditionally known benefits of...
Mycotoxin concerns amidst a pandemic: a discussion on how to optimize your food safety analysis
Read time: 4 Minutes The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the need to store and transport raw and finished food products in order to sustain the richness of the food supply chain. Therefore, having a robust post-harvest support system that monitors moisture levels and...
Breaking down the SCIEX Triple Quad™ 7500 LC-MS/MS System – QTRAP® Ready
Sensitivity and robustness carry different meanings in the world of mass spectrometry. Generally, sensitivity refers to an instrument’s ability to achieve lower limits of detection (LOD). Robustness, on the other hand, refers to an instrument’s ability to consistently...
The honey sting
As a consumer it’s hard for me not to feel inundated with claims that our food is “all-natural” or “chemical-free” or that we should buy certain “superfoods” for their health benefits. We read labels and trust that the product we are buying is what we are truly...
A rising star in food allergen research: proteomics of shellfish allergen
It’s important to know what you’re eating, especially if you suffer from a food allergy.
About 220 million people worldwide live with a food allergy.1 These numbers, along with the complexity and severity of conditions, continue to rise. In America, there are about 32 million food allergy sufferers—5.6 million of those are children under the age of 18.2.2 That’s 1 out of every 13 children, or about 2 in every classroom. From a financial perspective, the cost of food allergy childcare for US families is up to $25 billion
“Bottoms Up” Proteomics
Ahhhh beer. It's a ubiquitous drink found in over 90% of all countries around the world. Since the dawn of civilization, man has celebrated with beer where it can make even the most introverted person suddenly dance a little jig or belt out a top 40 song. But other...
The Ultimate Selectivity for Peptide and Protein Quantitation
There’s no doubt about it, biopharma drug development is experiencing phenomenal growth and presents a variety of challenges not experienced in small molecule development. Some of these challenges are in the selective and sensitive quantitation of peptides and...
Multi-Laboratory Study Highlights the Quantitative Reproducibility of SWATH Acquisition (Nature Communications Paper)
Reproducibility is one of the key tenets of the scientific method. But in a recent survey published in Nature, more than 70% of researchers were not able to reproduce another scientist’s experiments, and more than half could not reproduce their own experiments1. While the reasons for this are many, at least some of them stem from issues inherent in data collection.
SCIEX Lands HUPO Science and Technology Award
We are pleased to congratulate its research scientists Stephen Tate and Ron Bonner (retired) for being awarded this year’s Science and Technology award at HUPO 2017 in Dublin Ireland. The Science and Technology Award at HUPO recognizes an individual or team who were key in the commercialization of a technology, product, or procedure that advances proteomics research
Happy Birthday to SWATH Acquisition! 5 Years of Innovation
With its introduction at the HUPO World Congress in 2010 in Sydney Australia by Ruedi Aebersold, SWATH® Acquisition instantly intrigued scientists around the world. Here was a new technique with the potential to revolutionize the way proteomics studies were performed! Based on a data independent acquisition strategy using a SCIEX TripleTOF® 5600 system, SWATH was able to consistently identify and quantify at least as many peptides and proteins as other far more mature proteomics strategies on the market, but with quantitative accuracy and reproducibility rivaling gold standard MRM experiments! This solution was made broadly available to researchers with a full launch of SWATH Acquisition in the Analyst® TF 1.6 Software on the TripleTOF 5600+ System at ASMS 2012 in Vancouver (A Mine of Quantitative Proteomic Information. Prof Dr. Ruedi Aebersold, Head of the Department of Biology, ETH Zurich).
5 Tips for Calibrating a QTOF Mass Spectrometer
Do you have questions about your mass spec? How about a workflow? Our community members are involved in active discussions and receive expert answers from customers like you, SCIEX scientists, and support specialists every week. One recent topic concerned the automatic calibration on TripleTOF® systems as answered by Dr. Christie Hunter whose focus is developing and testing innovative MS workflows for omics research through working collaboratively with the instrument, chemistry, and software research groups.