It’s been a momentous year for the cannabis industry in Canada. Not only did the country legalize cannabis with the Canadian cannabis law in October 2018, but it has also taken a giant leap in setting up a multi-billion dollar market from scratch. The progress made...
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What is the difference between a rapid and a thorough search in ProteinPilot software?
When setting up your search in ProteinPilot software, you select either a Rapid Search or a Thorough Search in the Search Effort section. This setting determines which parts of the algorithm will be invoked and effectively how deep into your sample you will search to...
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...
Innovation that’s blasting through limitations in explosive detection
Mass spectrometry’s important role in identifying explosives The need for rapid explosive detection is now an unfortunate reality. The remit is multifaceted. The first is for preventative purposes, to protect us from any threat to life. The second is in the...
A new generation of therapeutic modalities
There are over 7,000 genetic diseases that could potentially be cured using gene therapy. Rare metabolic diseases, autoimmune disorders, cardiovascular disease and cancers are some of the top disease classes that can be addressed with gene therapies. With over 1,000...
Enhancing Biologics with CESI-MS Characterization
Comprehensive characterization of a biologic requires analysis at both the intact and digest levels, but these analyses can be complex and cumbersome. For example, with conventional liquid chromatography separations, researchers are often left with limited information...
Full, partial and empty capsid ratios for AAV analysis: What’s the big deal?
For many of you working to develop gene therapy drugs, you know that the time to market the drug is critical. Because gene therapeutics cure diseases by targeting specific genes, it is a constant race to see who develops the drug first. Unlike other classes of drugs where multiple medications can be used to treat a disease, whoever is first to develop a gene therapy drug wins.
Accurate mass LC-MS/MS for PFAS analysis without needing a blockbuster budget
If you’ve been following our recent blogs, you’ve probably seen quite a bit on how per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are shaking up both the food and environmental industry. Even if you’ve not been following our blogs, you’ve probably seen a lot of media...
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
Routine cannabis screening is here. Will your lab reap the benefits?
Fast, accurate, and robust solution for routine commercial cannabis testing
As the world debates cannabis legalization for therapeutic applications and recreational use, the trends are shifting. Medicinal use of cannabis is legal in an increasing number of countries worldwide, including 33 states and the District of Columbia in the United States. Uruguay was the first country in the world to legalize the sale, cultivation, and distribution of cannabis in 2013. In the United States, Washington and Colorado were the first to fully legalize cannabis in 2012. By the end of 2019, 10 states have legalized recreational use for adults over the age of 21, with 64% of Americans favoring the move
Global Trends That Will Affect Neonicotinoid Usage in 2019
Neonicotinoids have become the most widely used class of insecticide in the world, with registration in 120 countries. However, these pesticides have become embroiled in multi-year controversy in Europe and North America due to their risk to beneficial...
A Diagnosis And A “Difficult Waiting Game”
We are thrilled to mark International Women’s Day 2019 by making our fourth annual donation to World Cancer Research Fund, a global not-for-profit organization and leading authority on the links between diet, nutrition, physical activity, and cancer. In fact, our...
Phthalates: The Everywhere Chemical That’s Hard to See, Not Anymore with LC-MS/MS
A few months back, the American Academy of Pediatrics published a technical report on the use of chemicals in food processing and the negative health effects on children. One of the main culprits is phthalates. The 411 of PhthalatesPhthalates are esters of phthalic...
The SCIEX Software Roadmap – The Journey Towards Windows 10 Compatibility is Complete
At SCIEX we are committed to providing you with the most up-to-date tools and technologies to meet the evolving needs of the laboratory. As part of that commitment, we were introducing our software product roadmap towards Windows 10 compatibility back in 2017. Many of...
10 Minutes in One Shot. That’s How Quickly You Can Screen 664 Forensics Compounds
Drug testing is a moving target. As novel psychoactive substances (NPS) rapidly emerge as a new class of designer stimulants (DS), global use has reached an all-time high over the last decade. Supposedly ‘legal’ alternatives to internationally controlled drugs, these...
Turbocharge THC-COOH Hair Analysis with Super Sensitive LC-MS/MS and Solid Phase Extraction
Do you want a more efficient workflow for the forensic analysis of THC-COOH in hair samples? Yes! Do we know a simple, highly sensitive technique? You bet! Read on to find out how you can detect THC-COOH in hair down to 0.2 pg/mg trace concentration levels with...
Fast Novel Psychoactive Substance Testing, At Your Fingertips
Why Dried Blood Spot Analysis Is the Way to Go for Novel Psychoactive Substances(And Why You Need This SCIEX LC-MS/MS Method) Anyone with children will remember that moment in the hospital when the nurse pricks the heel of your tiny new baby to squeeze out a few drops...
Take 5 with Dan Blake – 5 Minutes, 5 Questions on the World of Clinical Mass Spec
We would like to formally (or informally) introduce the new SCIEX Clinical Diagnostics blog series entitled, Take 5. Every couple of months we will ask a member of our team to answer five questions and share their responses in a format you can read in five minutes. We...
The Technology Behind Safe, Legal Cannabis
The Third in a Three-Part Series Part 1: Cannabis is Legal in Canada - How Did We Get Here? Part 2: Canada's Focus on Cannabis Quality and Safety Intensifies Welcome to the third in a series of blogs from the cannabis team at SCIEX, designed to bring you up to speed...
What is Multi Attribute Methodology (MAM)?
Q&A with Sean McCarthy Global Market Manager, Biologics, SCIEX MAM is an acronym for Multiple Attribute Method. In short, MAM is a method which may be applied for characterization of a biotherapeutic to understand its sequence, identify liabilities, identify...
New Methods for N-Glycan Sequencing Provide Structural Information in as Little as 1 Hour
As interest in N-glycan analysis grows within the biopharma industry, innovation continues allowing analyses to be done in less time with fewer and less tedious, sample preparation steps. One of these recent innovations was the release of the SCIEX Fast Glycan...
When Chiral Separation Turns Tricky: The Story Behind CESI-MS in Forensic Chiral Analysis
Against a backdrop of rapid growth, chirality plays a major role in the synthesis of drugs in both pharmaceutical and illicit drug development. In fact, more than half of the drugs currently in use are chiral compounds, available as either racemates or pure...
Cannabis is Legal in Canada – How Did We Get Here?
The First in a Three-Part Series Welcome to the first in a series of blogs from the cannabis team at SCIEX, designed to bring you up to speed and put you in the lead of the recently legalized cannabis market in Canada. The Canadian cannabis market has taken the plunge...
3 Dicamba Analysis Questions You Need to Ask Yourself Today
We blinked and the last two years went in a flash. It seems like just yesterday, the Dicamba herbicide controversy hit the headlines in 2016 and the EPA set the regulations to expire in two years. Fast forward to today. Dicamba is an acid herbicide used to kill...
Don’t Be a Food Scandal Scapegoat. Fight Back with LC-MS/MS for Your Meat Authenticity Testing
The infamous horsemeat scandal of 2013 shined a spotlight on the questionable integrity of our meat supply. What followed was a lengthy investigation as the extent of the scandal unraveled before our eyes, reaching far beyond the European borders...
It’s Time to Turn Things Around―Faster and Accurate Mass Analysis of Organic Explosives
Sadly, the world is a volatile place. The threat of organic explosive use by terrorists and criminals is very much with us, posing a significant danger to people worldwide. The rising concern for public safety is a top priority for national security organizations...
Push Your Research to the Cutting Edge: 2018 Global CESI-MS Symposium
There are a lot of conferences vying for your attention every year. The Global CESI-MS Symposium on October 10-11 in the Netherlands is one you can’t afford to miss. It is the place to hear about the latest advancements made through the adoption of CESI-MS...
Break the routine: SCIEX OS-MQ improves your quantitation workflows
Advances in today’s technology have resulted in a need for higher and faster sample throughput, with increasing number of measured analytes per sample. The new SCIEX OS-MQ software breaks the routine and takes quantitation workflows to a new level. Key features...
Stop Fumbling Around in the Dark: Try LC-MS/MS for Designer Drugs in Forensic Samples
Imagine being blindfolded, sent into a large (dark) room filled with obstacles and challenged to find an item, but you don’t know what that item is, and you have never seen it before. Then you must do the same again the next day, but you are looking for a different...
Something’s in the Water: Tackle Your PFAS Analysis
Exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) residues could be dangerous. These chemicals have been linked to a variety of adverse health effects including liver damage, thyroid disease, decreased fertility, high cholesterol, obesity, hormone suppression,...