The Advantages of a Software Maintenance Agreement by SCIEX Community | 0 CommentsYou’ve bought your mass spectrometer. You’ve installed all your hardware. You’ve got your operating software set up. You’ve mastered your software workflow modules to optimize quantitative and qualitative data processing. That’s it, right? Even though your system is...
You’ve Edited the Gene. Now What? by SCIEX Community | 0 CommentsProtein-Level Verification Without The Need For Antibodies Using SWATH® Acquisition. Fast, Comprehensive, and Highly Reproducible Although humans have been able to influence the traits of plants and animals for thousands of years through domestication and selective...
Environmental Scientists: Here’s Why You Should Consider Nominal Mass Spectrometry for Your Routine PFAS and Gen-X Testing in Drinking Water by Craig Butt | 2 CommentsHow are you feeling about PFAS regulation right now? If you’re like us, you probably find it hard to pinpoint one specific feeling. But if we took a look at the current state of affairs, we’d all probably agree that it’s a minefield of uncertainty. Under the Safe...
Why Quant? by SCIEX Community | 0 CommentsEvery decision you make requires a number As a pharmaceutical scientist, you understand the challenges in getting a new drug through the discovery and development pipeline. As an innovation partner in mass spectrometry, SCIEX works continuously with you, our...
Bulletproof your clinical laboratory with rugged and reliable LC-MS/MS instrumentation (Clinical diagnostic blog) by Pierre Negri | Blogs, Clinical, Ion sourcesThe ability to consistently achieve reproducible results on many complex samples across multiple days is critical to a routine clinical laboratory. Laboratories relying on analytical instrumentation require stability and robustness to perform a variety of screening and confirmatory assays with confidence. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) has become the preferred analytical method in the clinical laboratory to reliably perform clinical testing as it provides best-in-class performance and reliability for the most challenging assays. LC-MS/MS offers the required levels of sensitivity and specificity for the detection and quantitation of molecules from complex biological samples, helping laboratories deliver highly accurate data for a variety of clinically relevant analytes across a wide range of assays.
Bulletproof your clinical laboratory with rugged and reliable LC-MS/MS instrumentation (Clinical research blog) by Pierre Negri | Blogs, Clinical, Ion sourcesThe ability to consistently achieve reproducible results on many complex samples across multiple days is critical to a routine clinical laboratory. Laboratories relying on analytical instrumentation require stability and robustness to perform a variety of screening and confirmatory assays with confidence. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) has become the preferred analytical method in the clinical laboratory to reliably perform clinical testing as it provides best-in-class performance and reliability for the most challenging assays. LC-MS/MS offers the required levels of sensitivity and specificity for the detection and quantitation of molecules from complex biological samples, helping laboratories deliver highly accurate data for a variety of clinically relevant analytes across a wide range of assays.
Methods for electrode cleaning for Echo MS systems by John Gibbons | Blogs, Echo® MS+ system, PharmaDepending on the samples that you are running on the system, it is possible for the Echo MS electrode to become dirty or occluded over time. Below are two different cleaning strategies that will be helpful for you to maintain your system and keep your electrodes running well.
The myth of costly training: debunked. by Andrea Mueller | Blogs, Instrument maintenance, Optimizing Performance, Technology, TrainingAs analytical organizations grow, there is an even greater need to train scientists and operators more consistently to meet tight deadlines, handle increasing samples, and meet data quality expectations. A high rate of employee turnover also affects the productivity of labs worldwide. Consistent training helps today’s labs stay competitive, whether the goal is sample throughput, therapeutic development, or publication.
PFAS regulations – a journey around the globe by Gitte Barknowitz | Blogs, Environmental / IndustrialA few years ago, I was plotting along in my analytical job and keeping up-to-date with residue regulations took a considerable amount of time, but it was always manageable. Nowadays, we have PFAS.
Tackling mycotoxin testing: Harnessing mass spectrometry for safer foods and healthier futures by SCIEX Community | Blogs, Food / Beverage, Food and BeverageProduced by certain moulds, thriving in crops such as grain, nuts and coffee, mycotoxins have contaminated agriculture and food production industries for a long time. To intensify the challenge, mycotoxins are resilient, not easily broken down and ensuring the safety of food supply chains requires comprehensive solutions and we are here to share those solutions with you.
Enhancing omics-based mass spectrometry workflows with Electron-Activated Dissociation (EAD) by Rebekah Sayers | Blogs, Life Science ResearchElectron-Activated Dissociation (EAD) is transforming the fields of metabolomics and lipidomics by providing enhanced fragmentation techniques that offer deeper insights into molecular structures. In September, Technology Networks hosted a webinar, “Enhancing Mass-Based Omics Analysis in Model Organisms,” featuring Dr. Valentina Calabrese from the Institute of Analytical Sciences at the University of Lyon. Valentina shared her insights on improving omics-based mass spectrometry analysis for toxicology studies using model organisms, particularly in metabolomics and lipidomics. This blog explores the additional functionalities EAD offers, its benefits in untargeted workflows, its incorporation into GNPS and molecular networking, and the future role it could play in these scientific domains.
The economics of food testing: A strategic perspective for laboratory managers by Philip Taylor | Blogs, Food / Beverage, Food and BeverageIn today’s rapidly evolving food industry, the role of food testing laboratories has never been more critical. Ensuring the safety, quality, and authenticity of food products is paramount, and this responsibility falls heavily on the shoulders of laboratory managers. The economics of food testing—encompassing everything from high-throughput pesticide screening to advanced research on alternative protein sources—plays a pivotal role in shaping the operational efficiency and financial health of these laboratories.
Six benefits of remote support every laboratory should know by Andrea Mueller | Biopharma, Blogs, Environmental / Industrial, Food / Beverage, Food and Beverage, Forensic, Instrument maintenance, Life Science Research, Optimizing Performance, Pharma, Service, Support, Technology, TrainingImagine having a tech expert at your fingertips to solve computer issues or a fitness trainer guiding you through workouts from the comfort of your home. In today’s fast-paced world, the ability to provide and receive service and support remotely is no longer a luxury but a necessity. Whether it’s troubleshooting a software issue, repairing a device, offering customer assistance, or enjoying the convenience of telehealth as a private individual, remote capabilities have revolutionized how businesses operate and how individuals get help
Advancing immunopeptidomics for pancreatic cancer research with ZT Scan DIA by Katherine Tran | Blogs, Life Science ResearchPancreatic cancer remains one of the most fatal types of cancer, and the rates of occurrences and mortalities continue to be on a global rise.1,2 Recent statistics have reported that the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer is the eighth most common type of cancer and...
Legal and Illicit Drugs in Wastewater Detected and Confirmed with QTRAP Technology by SCIEX Community | Blogs, Environmental / IndustrialWhat happens when you up the sensitivity and lower detection limits on influent and effluent sewage tests? For starters, low levels of illegal drugs in samples begin to emerge. This is what researchers discovered when they combined the power of LC-MS/MS with the...
Using SelexION to Increase Selectivity for the Accurate and Sensitive Quantitation of a Difficult Peptide Therapeutic by SCIEX Community | Biopharma, BlogsSelexION® DMS Technology Drives Advancements in Challenging Large Molecule Bioanalysis By the End of 2024, the peptide therapeutics market value is expected to reach US$46.6 billion1. However, peptide therapeutics present some of the toughest analytical...
Harnessing the Power of MRM3 for Large Molecule Quantitative Bioanalysis by SCIEX Community | Biopharma, BlogsIn a previous blog outlining the advantages of high-resolution accurate mass measurements for protein quantitation using the TripleTOF 6600, it was noted that although the triple-stage quadrupole demonstrated high sensitivity when operated in multiple reaction monitoring mode (MRM), the relatively low-resolution measurement of m/z failed to discriminate Rituximab response from nominally isobaric interferences given the complexity of the proteolytically digested samples (June 28/2016). While the accurate mass filtering capabilities of the TripleTOF 6600 represents one mechanism for achieving increased selectivity over MRM, the triple quadrupole/linear ion trap (LIT) hybrid platform represented by the QTRAP® 4500, 5500, 6500 and 6500+ systems provides an alternative technique by leveraging a third stage of MS, often referred to as MRM3. In this blog, we outline the MRM3 scan function and survey several large molecule applications which utilize the additional stage of fragmentation in the LIT to yield significant improvements in achievable detection limits when compared to MRM.
Taking care of your mass spectrometer—Onsite troubleshooting and maintenance training for today’s lab by SCIEX Community | Blogs, TechnologyRecently, we asked customers to tell us about their biggest challenges so we could customize training programs to meet the needs of today’s growing lab. Without hesitation, most of you said uptime and employee training are your most critical needs. As a result, our...
A Sting in the Tale for Neonicotinoids by SCIEX Community | Blogs, Food / BeverageDid you know one out of every three mouthfuls of your meal is a product of honeybee pollination—almonds and other tree nuts, berries, fruits, vegetables? To put numbers behind it, honeybee pollination amounts to about $15 billion of U.S....
The detection of acid herbicides and urons by large volume injection by Craig Butt | Blogs, Environmental / IndustrialPre-treatment versus direct injection – that is the question posed in the application note, “The Detection of Acidic Herbicides and Phenyl Ureas by LC-MS/MS with Large Volume Injection and Automated Column Switching.” It’s just one of the dozens of articles you will find within the Environmental Compendium (pages 1 to 4, pesticides) now available for download.
See What More You Can do With 360 Degree Biologics Characterization by SCIEX Community | Biopharma, BlogsEver wish you had your own team of mass spectrometry experts at your side when working through biologics development and characterization challenges? With SCIEX 360° Innovations complex biologics characterization is streamlined with a full suite of mass spectrometry (MS), capillary electrophoresis (CE) systems, software, and services from SCIEX experts.
The Promise of Precision Medicine by SCIEX Community | Blogs, Life Science Research, ProteomicsHere is the latest update on the Worldwide Efforts to Accelerate Precision Medicine The NIH recently issued a press release in early July announcing $55 million in awards. According to the release, the $55 million award in the fiscal year 2016 will go towards building the foundational partnerships and infrastructure needed to launch the Cohort Program of President Obama’s Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI). The PMI Cohort Program is a landmark longitudinal research effort that aims to engage 1 million or more U.S. participants to improve the ability to prevent and treat disease based on individual differences in lifestyle, environment, and genetics.
You’ve Seen It… Now Try It! BioPharmaView Software 2.0 by SCIEX Community | Biopharma, BlogsAt ASMS this year, the newest version of BioPharmaView Software was released. This software simplifies the processing of biotherapeutic data for characterization and comparability which can dramatically improve your productivity. BioPharmaView 2.0 Software accelerates characterization and comparability studies and simplifies reporting, so you can make better decisions, faster.
Quantitation of Antibiotics and Insecticides in Poultry Feed using LC-MS/MS by SCIEX Community | Blogs, Food / BeverageQuantitating antibiotics and insecticides in poultry is serious business. Overuse can lead to antibiotic resistance while insecticide residuals can cause harmful side effects in humans. In the United States, for example, the Federal Drug Administration (FDA), has offered up a plan to limit common antibiotics in feed, which are used to encourage growth. However, this is a voluntary plan, and as the following application note, “Quantitation of Antibiotics and Insecticides in Poultry Feed using LC-MS/MS,” points out, antibiotics have been shown to accumulate in poultry feathers, which are in turn used for nutritional elements in the feed.
Screening Novel Psychoactive Substances with Confidence by SCIEX Community | Blogs, ForensicHow do you know what you can’t see? This is the challenge many a lab faces as they relentlessly test for novel psychoactive substances (NPS) as unknown samples with an ever-changing ingredient list make discovery difficult work at best. There are many reasons for the complexities of which you can discover in this application note, “Accurate Mass Screening Workflows for the Analysis of Novel Psychoactive Substances.” However, the biggest of which is that non-targeted findings can turn up thousands of molecular features in a single sample. Sifting through the peaks is laborious, and many are normal besides.
Why Study Lipids? by Baljit Ubhi | Blogs, Life Science Research, LipidomicsI had an opportunity to follow up with Steven M Watkins, Ph.D. to talk about the importance of studying lipids in disease. Steve has been working in the lipids field for over 20 years and is one of the foremost experts in lipid biology. Steve founded Lipomics in 2000, an early metabolomics company focused on quantitative lipidomics and had followed that company through a series of changes that led to its involvement in the clinical diagnostic development and global metabolomics. Steve authored over 70 peer-reviewed publications including several book chapters on lipids and lipid metabolism. His presentations on this topic are fascinating and very informative, so I wanted to capture some of his thinking here!
Improved complex sample processing for higher quality of results, reproducibility and depth of proteomic analysis by ken.hamill@sciex.com | Blogs, Life Science Research, ProteomicsSCIEX partners to improve depth of proteome coverage SCIEX and Pressure BioSciences address a major challenge for researchers performing complex sample preparation by marketing a complete solution to increase the depth, breadth, and reproducibility of protein extraction, digestion, and quantitation in all tissue types, especially challenging samples like tumors.
Perfluoroalkyl Acids in Drinking Water – EPA Method 537 by SCIEX Community | Blogs, Environmental / IndustrialThe United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), under the 1996 Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), requires a new list of no more than 30 unregulated contaminants to be monitored by public drinking water systems. Known as the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR), a new list is published every five years. The last rule, UCMR3, was published May 2, 2012, and is the focus of the following application note, “Analysis of Perfluoroalkyl (PFFA) Acids Specified under the UCMR3 Using the QTRAP® 6500 LC-MS/MS system,” which can be found in the Food and Environmental Compendium.
SCIEX helps set food standards in China by Brandon McInnis | Blogs, Food / BeverageOne of the biggest concerns of Chinese citizens is food safety1. Even though China ranks second in global economies2, crowding, industrial pollution, labor and certain agriculture practices have contributed to this. In October 2015, however, we began to see a turnaround as the Chinese government revised its 2009 Food Safety Law in an attempt to strengthen its food supply oversight and quality.
Discover the new and accurate SCIEX way to enhance your routine food allergen testing by SCIEX Community | Blogs, Food / BeverageFood allergy is an immune-mediated, adverse reaction to an antigenic protein. Even limited exposure to an antigen can provoke a significant reaction in sensitive individuals, causing rashes, itching and swelling in the mouth, nausea, vomiting, and asthma. Additionally, food allergies are the leading cause of anaphylaxis, an acute, potentially deadly allergic reaction. The prevalence and severity of food allergies are rising, with approximately 150 million people suffering from food allergies worldwide.1, 2 Presently, there is no cure for food allergies, and sufferers must rely on the correct labeling of foods to avoid consuming allergens. Hence, the development of sensitive and accurate analytical methods to screen for the presence of allergens in food products is necessary for the prevention of potentially life-threatening health problems for allergy sufferers.
Three Infographics to Show You How to Overcome Challenges in Transitioning to Biologics Bioanalysis by SCIEX Community | Biopharma, BlogsThe move to large molecules in Pharma is accelerating, offering unprecedented opportunities to improve human health and expand into new markets. But for those with extensive experience with small molecule bioanalysis, the shift to biologics can be challenging, from Sample Prep to Instrumentation and Software, to Methods and Training:
Rapid Characterization of Biologics using CESI-MS by SCIEX Community | Biopharma, BlogsToday, 30 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), have been approved for the treatment of certain cancers, autoimmune and infectious diseases. Even more are in development, and perhaps you and your team of scientists are working on one now. Keeping pace with fast development timelines while performing comprehensive characterization of biologic candidates can be challenging. However, more and more, scientists are tackling these challenges with new techniques to speed and simplify their characterization workflows. Read more in the application note, “Rapid Characterization of Biologics using a CESI 8000 – SCIEX TripleTOF® System,” found in the Biologics Analytical Characterization Compendium, which highlights how CESI separation coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry can provide a comprehensive characterization of biotherapeutics.
The Not So Hidden Truth about Climate Change How It’s Poisoning Your Food by Robert Di Lorenzo | Blogs, Food / BeverageDid you know climate change could be poisoning your food? According to the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) report on Emerging Issues of Environmental Concern, rising temperatures are making crops more toxic.
Guardians of Antibiotics by SCIEX Community | Blogs, Food / BeverageThis second is a blog series on the global war: Rise of Superbugs! Part 1 took a critical look at the antibiotic threat we face in today’s battlefield. The waning effectiveness of antibiotics as we head into what may seem like a post-antibiotic era has impelled new reformation to at the very least control antibiotic usage to ensure food safety.