Month: September 2017

The new Thermo Scientific Aquilos is the first commercial Cryo-DualBeam (focused ion beam/scanning electron microscope) system dedicated to the preparation of frozen, thin lamella samples from biological specimens for high-resolution tomographic imaging in a cryo-transmission electron microscope (cryo-TEM). "The Aquilos completes our cryo-electron tomography workflow, allowing customers to reliably create the samples with precisely-controlled thickness with minimal investment in time and effort," said Peter Fruhstorfer, vice president and general manager, life sciences, Thermo Fisher Scientific. Elizabeth Villa, assistant professor of…

Scientists that genotype using a thermocycler typically rely on the software accompanying the instrument to analyze their data. Data from one thermocycler cannot be uploaded to the software of a different thermocycler, which prevents the comparison of data attained on different thermocyclers. Canon BioMedical has solved this problem by providing free, web-based software capable of analyzing data from different thermocyclers and well plate formats. The Novallele HRM Analyzer provides an intuitive and easy-to-use graphical interface with comprehensive algorithms capable of…

Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have developed a hand-held surgical “pen” that can analyze tissue samples and tell a surgeon if they are cancerous in just a few seconds, a report from Medgadget said. During surgery to remove a tumor, surgeons need to know if they have removed the entire tumor margins, as leaving just a small piece of neoplasm could mean that it grows back. Often the tumor looks very similar to healthy tissue, making it…

Worldwide work-related injury and illness result in the loss of 3.9 percent of GDP, at an annual cost of roughly EUR2,680 billion, according to new global estimates presented by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, EU-OSHA, together with the International Labour Organisation, ILO, at the XXI World Congress on Safety and Health at Work, being held in Singapore on 3-6 September. The estimates are findings from a major project on the costs and benefits of occupational safety…

McDonald's Corp said that it would begin curbing the use of the high value human antibiotics in its global chicken supply in 2018, as the fast-food giant joins a broad effort to battle dangerous superbugs. McDonald's, in a policy statement, said it is working on antibiotic plans for other meats, dairy cows and laying hens. McDonald's is requiring suppliers of chicken meat to begin phasing out the use of antibiotics defined by the World Health Organization as "highest priority critically…