I did some digging on Google and decided to help answer the top 3 most searched queries about cannabis testing methods and technology, for both marijuana and hemp. 1. What equipment should I use to test my cannabis and hemp samples for mycotoxins,...
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Overcoming uncertainty in your PFAS analysis
Just like gum on the bottom of a shoe, the existence of per- and poly-fluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) in our environment is a sticky one. If you’re in the field of environmental testing, then you’re all too familiar with the threat these substances have on public health. While we have learned a lot about them over the years, there is still much more to understand. With the right detection methods, we can gather the information we need to empower us to make informed decisions on reducing the risks they impose.
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.
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.
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...
FDA’s final rule on LDTs: what does it mean for clinical laboratories?
On April 29, 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a final rule regulating laboratory developed tests (LDTs) as in vitro diagnostic devices (IVDs) under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act). This rule amends FDA’s regulations to state that in vitro diagnostic tests “manufactured” by clinical laboratories fall within the scope of the FDA regulatory oversight and is poised to dramatically shift the way clinical diagnostic laboratories in the United States develop and offer LDTs in the future. Read this blog post for a basic overview of the scope, intent and implications of this final rule, including the regulatory requirements, exceptions and timeline for implementation.
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?
An overview: LC-MS analysis of targeted protein degraders and their metabolites
Targeted protein degraders (TPD) are a relatively new therapeutic modality that opens the potential to target disease-causing proteins. These disease-causing proteins have been highly challenging for traditional small-molecule therapeutics to treat, making TPDs an exciting new therapeutic modality.
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.
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.
Why Microflow HILIC Chromatography for Targeted Metabolomics Applications?
I recently had the opportunity to catch up with Baljit Ubhi to discuss the top questions you’re asking in regards to using Microflow HILIIC Chromatography for Targeted Metabolomics. Here’s what Bal said:
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.
Discover The Benefits of Knowledge Base Articles
Did you know you can access Knowledge Base Articles for trending user questions compiled and answered by SCIEX support experts? Doing so may help to reduce your support calls, not to mention downtime. Instead of waiting for a problem to occur, you can stay on top of it, and be a part of the solution. To give you an idea of trending articles, consider the how this past month saw questions and answers including:
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.