Factors that affect the reproducibility of your assay As scientists, we know our experiments must be reproducible. Without it, there is always doubt as to whether our data interpretations and conclusions are truly sound. With LC-MS/MS quantitative methods, high...
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6 Signs it’s time for a new vendor
A lab’s success depends on many factors from instrument quality to efficient operations, including being partnered with the right vendor. A vendor is more than just a supplier. They should provide you with a high-level quality of support in maximizing the lifespan and performance of your systems, reducing downtime, enhancing ROI and more. How do you know if you’re partnered with the right one? Here are six signs it might be time to find someone new.
Selecting an LC-MS system for quantitation of pharmaceutical drug development
We understand you are busy, needing to prioritize running instruments, reporting results and managing your laboratory to meet deadlines. We created a solution guide to explain how SCIEX systems fit in the drug development pipeline to save you time evaluating options.
Celebrating customer experience: Insights from SCIEX leaders
Introduction Customer Experience Day (CX Day) is a special occasion for SCIEX, celebrated every first Tuesday in October. It’s a day dedicated to recognizing the incredible value of our customers and the relentless dedication of our associates who strive to make...
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.
Your success and voice go a long way!
At the heart of everything we do is ensuring that your workflows and team are empowered to achieve optimal results with your SCIEX instruments, software, consumables, and services. Every interaction with SCIEX is designed to support your success through the dedication...
LC-MS system replacement: Are you ready?
Meeting deadlines in a bioanalysis laboratory can be a big challenge. Older, less sensitive and less reliable LC-MS systems make it even more difficult. Even the disruption caused by the installation and validation can be disconcerting and delay decisions. Does this sound familiar?
Understanding technical debt: the hidden cost of ignoring problems
In today’s rapidly evolving technological landscape, businesses heavily rely on software and IT systems to drive their operations. However, the pursuit of efficiency and speed often leads to the accumulation of what is known as technical debt. Technical debt refers to the implied cost incurred when businesses choose quick but limited solutions over better approaches that may take more time to implement. This blog post will delve into the concept of technical debt, its implications for businesses and how to avoid falling victim to its detrimental effects.
Optimized rolling collision energy curves for IDA and SWATH DIA for peptides
During data dependent acquisition (DDA or IDA) or SWATH acquisition, the collision energy can be automatically adjusted according to the mass/charge and charge of the peptide. This dependency has been well characterized on our QTOF systems. By selecting rolling...
Rescheduling a Schedule I substance, and the Delta-8 controversy
Did you know that in the US, drugs and other chemicals are classified into 5 distinct categories depending on the drug’s acceptable medical use and its potential for abuse or dependency? Drugs federally classified as Schedule I substances by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) are considered to have the highest potential for abuse and for creating severe psychological and/or physical dependence. In addition to heroin, LSD and MDMA (ecstasy), cannabis is classified as a Schedule I substance in the Controlled Substance Act of 1970, which means it has no approved medical usage.
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.
Making Your Vitamin D Testing Dreams Come True
If you work in clinical diagnostics, you can probably confirm that most clinical laboratories have seen a 5 to 6-fold increase in 25-hydroxyvitamin D testing over the past decade, and volume is growing. Furthermore, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently reported Vitamin D as one of the top five laboratory assays reimbursed by Medicare, accounting for 8.7 million laboratory tests and $337 million in reimbursement dollars.
The Science Behind SelexION Differential Mobility Spectrometry Technology
Scientists and analysts across all fields of testing and research are increasingly challenged by complex samples requiring advanced analytical selectivity. And where LC-MS/MS sensitivity alone is not enough to meet the demands of modern day quantitative performance, Differential Ion Mobility Spectrometry (DMS) has proven to be a valuable addition.
Elimination of Interference using the SelexION Differential Mobility System for the Quantitation of Rituximab in a Dual Surrogate Peptide Approach
The quantitation of proteins using the surrogate peptide approach can complicate nominal mass Triple Quadrupole MRM measurements due to co-extracted interference when using non-selective extraction techniques such as pellet digestion. High resolution coupled with accurate mass filtering can mitigate such interference, as reported previously for the determination of rituximab using the TripleTOF 6600 (Protein Quant Approaches). However, an additional level of selectivity can often be achieved on nominal mass systems using the orthogonal gas-phase separation approach offered by the SelexION+® Differential Mobility System technology (DMS). Interfaced between the sampling orifice and ion source, the DMS separates ions based upon differences in their migration rates under alternating low and high field waveform amplitudes (Figure 1). Ion clustering in low fields and declustering in high fields amplifies the distinction in mobility of an ion, resulting in improved resolution from interfering species of differing molecular cross-section.1-4
Enhancing In Vitro ADME Screening
LC-MS technology is helping contract research organization Cyprotex Discovery Ltd. perform bioanalysis of small molecules, peptides, and other pharmaceuticals, enabling quantification to be performed in complex matrices during in vitro ADME studies.
Host Cell Protein Analysis – Mass Spec’s Edge Over ELISA
The number of protein based drugs coming onto the market is at an all-time high, particularly those produced with a host cell system. With host cells come their own proteins. These host cell proteins (HCPs) constitute a major part of process-related impurities and can adversely affect drug safety, so it is critical that they are identified and quantified accurately.
Fipronil Tainted Eggs Detected in Several European Countries
News agencies all over the world are reporting a new food contamination issue regarding eggs which have been found to contain residues of Fipronil. According to Nieuwsuur, a Dutch news, and current affairs program, “The Fipronil scandal is a huge blow to the poultry sector. Millions of eggs are destroyed and 138 companies remain tentatively closed. But supermarkets also face great damage. In recent days all contaminated eggs have been taken out of the shelves.” CBS news has reported that contaminated eggs have been discovered in Belgium and in the Netherlands with other European countries now on alert.
In Search of the Unknown
The production of high-quality drinking water entails rigorous treatment and testing procedures. For water suppliers’ laboratories, such as the Zweckverband Landeswasserversorgung in Germany, one of the major challenges is the identification of trace levels of organic substances, which can be achieved with the help of mass spectrometry.
A Fleet of Analyzers Keeps Work Flowing
An Interview with Timothy Sangster, Head of Bioanalysis and Immunology, Charles River Laboratories, Edinburgh
Designed Specifically for Your Clinical Lab—Mass Spec Made Simple
Welcome to the first post in our clinical diagnostic blog series. Our ambition is to become your single destination for everything mass spec in the clinical diagnostic lab. To make this blog as useful as possible for you, we invite you to tell us what topics you would like us to cover. Please comment on this blog below and let us know what you’d like to hear!
Is Your Lab Prepared for Testing? The Global Supplement Market is Growing
Don’t judge a nutritional supplement by its label, as often, government monitoring of ingredients begins after the product enters the consumer market1. Meanwhile, there may be additional additives not mentioned on the label as they are used to address supplement side effects. Such is the case in the United States where even though federal law requires supplements to carry a dietary supplement label or a substitutional term, monitoring begins once a supplement is on the market. In China meanwhile, the China Food and Drug Administration’s (CFDA) health product potential illegal additives list, clearly stipulates monitoring processes for additives in six different types of nutritional supplements including weight loss, blood sugar reduction, blood pressure reduction, anti-fatigue, sleep improvement and immune strengthening functions.Read Tech Note >
How to Detect Additives in Cosmetics Amongst Ever Changing Regulations
In today’s technical blog, I’m talking about the cosmetics industry so let’s get right to it. According to a Research and Market report, “The Global Cosmetic market was $460 billion USD in 2014 and is estimated to reach 675 billion USD by 2020, growing at a rate of 6.4%.”1 The U.S. leads the pack with a reported $62 billion in revenue earned in 20162. So, what am I getting at? We know earnings are strong and consumers like their products. But the question remains, are these products that you put on your skin, hair, and ingest safe? Such is the thinking of scientists like me and other chemists who are routinely tasked with detecting minimal levels of potentially harmful ingredients in personal care products against ever-changing global regulations.
A Mine of Quantitative Proteomic Information
The Aebersold group at ETH Zurich focuses on proteomics research, including the development of techniques to study the proteome as an integrated entity. In collaboration with SCIEX, the group established SWATH® Acquisition mass spectrometry, a data-independent acquisition (DIA) method capable of fragmenting multiple peptide species concurrently. The resulting comprehensive data set can be retrospectively re-mined, enabling maximum benefit to be derived from any study.
Delivering New Biologics to the Marketplace
Characterization and quantification of host cell proteins (HCPs) in biopharmaceutical development and manufacturing is a critical step to ensuring product safety. While this can be achieved using ELISA, mass spectrometry using the SCIEX TripleTOF® 6600 System is more specific and enables the identification and quantitation of each of the individual proteins present.
Speeding the Development of Quantitative Biosimilar Assays
When developing new quantitative assays for Biotherapeutics, every biologic requires a specific sample prep strategy, which includes sourcing reagents and research protocols. However, as every bioanalytical lab knows all too well, it can also take up to two months to develop an optimized and robust LC-MS assay. For this reason, researchers understandably want an easier way to develop highly sensitive and specific assays for biotherapeutics and biosimilars to accelerate sample turnaround time.
The Benefits of Using SWATH Acquisition Technology when Testing Pesticides in Food
Up until recently, SWATH® Independent Data Acquisition (IDA), was not widely used for the detection of pesticides in food samples. Introduced in 2012, SWATH Acquisition is an advanced acquisition technology capable of running on high-resolution mass spectrometers such as the X500R QTOF system or Triple TOF technology. Originally used in the Omics market to ID and quantify complex samples, SWATH Acquisition is gradually making a transition across markets including the investigation of pesticides in food. Like designer drugs, pesticides continuously undergo synthesizing, and food labs are beginning to require a more reliable analysis method to be confident in their resulting reports.
Single Injection, Routine Antibiotic Testing in Urine Samples
The consumption of pharmaceuticals and personal care products is a day to day occurrence. Once consumed the body excretes the remaining part of the compound which is not absorbed. This waste, flushed down the toilet, makes its way through the sewage system before arriving at a treatment facility where it was then processed with chemicals to ensure its cleanliness. Despite being washed, there can remain trace amounts of bacteria, hormones, metals, and antibiotics in whatever you consume, not just water
Do You Want to Accelerate Quantitative Assays for Antibody Drug Conjugates?
Are you tasked with the bioanalysis of antibody drug conjugates (ADCs)? If so, you know they represent a rapidly growing class of biotherapeutics, but their unique chemical structure makes quantitative analysis particularly challenging.
Food Allergies – How Allergic Are You?
A recent study published by the Annals of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (ACAAI), pointed out, in a study of 109 people tested, that skin prick tests are not 100 percent reliable. In the study, participants were subjected to oral food challenges prior to skin testing in which 50 percent of individuals had no reaction. It was also discovered that blood tests were not full-proof even though they measure the presence of IgE antibodies to specific foods. These results are not surprising given that 50 to 60 percent of tests result in false-positives.
Comprehensive Therapeutic Protein Characterization Using One Single Method
Get to know how CESI-MS will allow you to quickly and accurately characterize protein therapeutics for attributes in a single method by downloading this discovery kit.
A Fresh Approach to Food Safety
The EU Reference Laboratory (EURL) for Fruits and Vegetables in Almería is responsible for a network of around 200 laboratories which provide essential surveillance and monitoring to ensure the safety of foodstuffs available across Europe. The EURL provides proficiency testing and method development for these official laboratories, ensuring rigorous screening to avoid harmful chemicals entering the food chain