Feb 23, 2011 | Digital Pathology, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Goal is to produce accurate sequence of one human cancer cell; could lead to new cancer tests
Pathologists and clinical laboratory managers will find the latest “prize” for a genetic breakthrough to have direct relevance to molecular diagnostics. One million dollars will go to the first person who sequences an entire cancer cell genome, including all of the RNA, using a specific whole human genome sequencer made by Carlsbad, California-based Life Technologies (NASDAQ: LIFE).
This is the fourth of seven challenges being put out to the public at large. It is part of the global biotechnology company’s crowdsourcing initiative, dubbed the “Life Grand Challenges Contest.” Life Technologies first announced the contest in December of 2010, and since then, has posed three earlier challenges, each one also paying $1 million upon completion and verification.
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Jun 4, 2010 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Milestone achievement may lead to more sophisticated clinical laboratory tests
Now science can create synthetic life forms and J. Craig Venter, Ph.D., is the first to do it. The landmark feat, which involved building the genome of a bacterium from scratch and incorporating it into a cell, “paves the way for designer organisms that are built rather than evolved,” noted the author of an article in guardian.co.uk.
J. Craig Venter, Ph.D., best known to pathologists and clinical laboratory scientists for his role in sequencing the first human genome, achieved the feat at the J. Craig Venter Institute in Rockville, Maryland. Venter and his team synthesized the 1.08 million base pair chromosome of a modified Mycoplasma mycoides genome. The synthetic cell, called Mycoplasma mycoides JCVI-syn1.0, is proof of the principle that genomes can be designed in the computer, chemically made in the laboratory, and transplanted into a recipient cell to produce a new self-replicating cell controlled by the synthetic genome. The experiment demonstrates how fast genetic technologies are advancing.
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Oct 19, 2009 | Digital Pathology, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
In conjunction with Phillips Research, a team from the University of Southampton is looking to revolutionize blood analysis
Point-of-care blood cell analysis in doctor’s offices could soon be much faster and more convenient. In conjunction with Philips Research, a team of researchers at England’s University of Southampton is developing a miniaturized cell analysis device with the goal of eventually delivering a low cost, high speed, and inexpensive system to perform CBCs (complete blood counts) in point-of-care settings.
The team recently developed a microfluidic single-cell impedance cytometer with the ability to execute a white cell differential count. A microchip within the cytometer uses microfluidics to assess various cells in the blood. The electrical properties of the blood cells are assessed while the blood actually flows through the chip. The measurements are used to determine and count the different types of cells and would allow physicians to diagnose several different types of diseases. The device can identify three types of white blood cells (T-lymphocytes, monocytes and neutrophils) quicker and more inexpensively than current systems.
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