Medical Laboratory and Biomedical Science: May 2013

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Euromedlab 2013

Greetings from Milan

Euromedlab 2013 was a wonderful event. Almost 4500 participants and largest exhibition ever. Here are some of my memories from the congress and Milan.

Art and Science of Laboratory Medicine

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Sunday, May 19, 2013

New Device Can Extract Human DNA with Full Genetic Data in Minutes

Take a swab of saliva from your mouth and within minutes your DNA could be ready for analysis and genome sequencing with the help of a new device. University of Washington engineers and NanoFacture, a Bellevue, Wash., company, have created a device that can extract human DNA from fluid samples in a simpler, more efficient and environmentally friendly way than conventional methods.

The device will give hospitals and research labs a much easier way to separate DNA from human fluid samples, which will help with genome sequencing, diagnostics and forensic investigations.

Source: Advanced

Art and Science of Laboratory Medicine

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Saturday, May 18, 2013

Teen wins UK Young Engineer of 2013 for building DNA analyser in his bedroom

Believe it or not we really ARE brothers! Boy, 17, builds DNA testing machine in his bedroom to find out why his younger sibling has ginger hair

Fred Turner, 17, from Yorkshire built a DNA testing machine in his bedroom
Built the polymerase chain reaction machine from items he found at home
Wanted to see if his brother had the mutated gene that causes ginger hair
Experiment was a success and proved why his brother is ginger and he isn't
Fred was named the UK's Young Engineer of the Year for his design

Source: Mail Online

Art and Science of Laboratory Medicine

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Labquality Days 2014 - Congress of Laboratory Medicine and EQA

Labquality Days 2014
Helsinki, February 6-7

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Interested in Future Laboratory trends? Quality goals in Laboratory Medicine? Pre- post- and analytical quality challenges in diagnostics? EQA’s role? Patient Safety?

World class lecturers lead our thoughts to those important bits and pieces in Laboratory Medicine practices, which sum up to quality in diagnostics and finally in patient safety.
Many opinion leaders and Lab Med scientists choose cold & snowy Helsinki the best place to be in February. Come you too to put your piece in the quality puzzle! It may be cold outside, but our hearts are warm for our important mission and for you.

Read more from Labquality Days Website
Download the First Announcement
www.labqualitydays.fi

Keynote lecturers

MD Ph.D. Kristin Moberg Aakre	Prof. Dr. med. Peter Bruno Luppa	Professor Kim Pettersson
M.S. Tuija Sinervo	Dr. Oswald Sonntag	Dr. Cas Weykamp

Welcome to Helsinki in February 2014

Labquality - Ensuring Excellent Laboratory Testing

www.labquality.fi

New malaria test kit gives a boost to elimination efforts worldwide

A new, highly sensitive blood test that quickly detects even the lowest levels of malaria parasites in the body could make a dramatic difference in efforts to tackle the disease in the UK and across the world, according to new research published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases
In two studies led by researchers in the UK and Switzerland, the new LAMP (loop-mediated isothermal amplification) test was compared to existing methods in London laboratories that deal with imported cases of malaria to the UK, and to diagnostic methods used in the field in Uganda, where malaria is a leading cause of illness and death.

Read more:
New malaria test kit gives a boost to elimination efforts worldwide

Source: Science Daily

Art and Science of Laboratory Medicine

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Quality Control Programs for HCV and HIV RNA

Labquality announces two new EQA schemes for virology. Laboratories which are performing quantitative or qualitative hepatitis C and or HIV nucleic acid tests are all welcome to participate.

Specifications and advantages of the scheme:

Rounds: June, October and December (four times a year in the future)
Specimens: Three liquid human plasma, which are suitable for all methods
Price: Participation and analysing costs are reasionable
Service: Evaluation report includes always expert comments with the statistics.

Friday, May 17, 2013

Future Laboratory Scientists

Art and Science of Laboratory Medicine

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Saudi health workers sickened by SARS-like virus

A deadly new respiratory virus related to SARS has apparently spread from patients to health care workers in eastern Saudi Arabia, health officials said Wednesday.

The Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia told world health officials that two health care workers became ill this month after being exposed to patients with the virus. One is critically ill.

Source: Yahoo News

Art and Science of Laboratory Medicine

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Thursday, May 16, 2013

Molecular Addictions

Everyone has his or her own secret indulgence. Molecular Addictions is a jewellery collection and a concept series where molecules are depicted in a way that shows the dark and lonely addictions we can have to addictive substances. Some of the molecules in the collection are easily accessible and consumed on a daily basis whereas others are illicit and taboo, consumed in secret or with close friends.

View more:
Aroha Silhouettes

Caffeine

Source: Arouha Silhuettes

Art and Science of Laboratory Medicine

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Human Cloning

Human cloning has been used to produce early embryos, marking a "significant step" for medicine, say US scientists. The cloned embryos were used as a source of stem cells, which can make new heart muscle, bone, brain tissue or any other type of cell in the body. The study, published in the journal Cell, used methods like those that produced Dolly the sheep in the UK.

Read more:
Embryonic stem cells: Advance in medical human cloning

Source: BBC

Art and Science of Laboratory Medicine

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Antimicrobial resistance continues to be found in Salmonella and Campylobacter

Antimicrobial resistance continues to be found in Salmonella and Campylobacter, the latest joint report from the European Food Safety Authority and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control reveals.
The EU Summary Report on antimicrobial resistance in zoonotic and indicator bacteria from humans, animals and food reveals that a high proportion of Campylobacter bacteria were resistant to ciprofloxacin, a critically important antimicrobial. However, there was low resistance to erythromycin and co-resistance to important antimicrobials remains low.

Read more:
News - Antimicrobial resistance continues to be...

Source: ECDC

Art and Science of Laboratory Medicine

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Defense from Disease

A white blood cell (purple) engulfs Staphylococcus aureus bacteria (yellow).

Image of the Day: Defense from Disease

Source: The Scientist Magazine

Art and Science of Laboratory Medicine

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Salmonella Tattoo

Jonathan Kurtz writes, “I started graduate school four years ago, studying the immune responses to chronic Salmonella infection in mice, similar to typhoid fever in humans.

“My project developed into defining how infections are combated in different anatomical locations and the host/microbial factors dictate these responses. I am scheduled to do my post-graduate studies with a collaborator of ours, so that I may stay in the Salmonella field, studying what is now a lifetime love/interest/career.

Read more:
Today’s Microbiology Class Will Be At the Tattoo Parlor (Science Ink Sunday)

Source: Phenomena: The Loom

Art and Science of Laboratory Medicine

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Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Women's immune systems remain younger for longer

Researchers looked at the blood of healthy volunteers in Japan, ranging in age between 20 and 90 years old and found that in both sexes the total number of white blood cells per person decreased with age.

Read more:
Women's immune systems remain younger for longer: Study

Source: The Times of India

Art and Science of Laboratory Medicine

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Monday, May 13, 2013

Science Party Cookies

Cookies for laboratory scientists

Source: Cookieartisan

Art and Science of Laboratory Medicine

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Validation of the minimal citrate tube fill volume for routine coagulation tests

CLSI recommends a minimal citrate tube fill volume of 90%. A validation protocol with clinical and analytical components was set up to determine the tube fill threshold for international normalized ratio of prothrombin time (PT-INR), activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) and fibrinogen.

In our study, we validated the minimal citrate tube fill volumes of 73%, 90% and 63% for PT-INR, aPTT and fibrinogen, respectively.

Read more:
Validation of the minimal citrate tube fill volume for routine coagulation tests

Source: Wiley

Art and Science of Laboratory Medicine

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Sunday, May 12, 2013

Fears grow over deadly new virus

The World Health Organization says it appears likely that the novel coronavirus (NCoV) can be passed between people in close contact. This comes after the French health ministry confirmed a second man had contracted the virus in a possible case of human-to-human transmission.

Read more:
WHO says new coronavirus may be passed person to person

Source: BBC News

Art and Science of Laboratory Medicine

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Nematode in Cervical Smear?

Cervical smear of 24 old woman from South America.
Have you seen case like this?

More images and discussion here

Source: Sociedad Latinoamericana de Citopatología

Art and Science of Laboratory Medicine

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Happy Mother´s Day Laboratorians

Source: Life Technologies

Art and Science of Laboratory Medicine

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Saturday, May 11, 2013

Ladylike Laboratory Gloves

To make everyday labwork a little bit funnier

Art and Science of Laboratory Medicine

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Implantable blood-test-on-a-chip sends continuous readings to a cellphone

The nano movement in medical devices has produced some pretty promising inventions, and here’s another to add to the list. Scientists in Switzerland have built an implantable blood testing chip that keeps tabs on certain compounds in the blood and relays those continuous measurements to a computer.

Read more:
Wow of the Week: Implantable blood-test-on-a-chip sends continuous readings to a cellphone

Source: MedCity News

Art and Science of Laboratory Medicine

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Estonia Leads European Rankings for E-Health Service Adoption

The OECD and the European Commission have published a report on a comparative analysis of ICT implementation and adoption in healthcare systems, where Estonia took the top spot among 30 countries. The study covered 1753 hospitals in 27 European Union member states, as well as Croatia, Norway and Iceland.

Read more:
Press — Nortal

Source: Nortal

Art and Science of Laboratory Medicine

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Peripheral blood cell morphology

Can you identify these leukocytes?

Correct answer: Lymphocytes (mantle cell lymphoma)
View all comments here

Art and Science of Laboratory Medicine

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My Chromosomes - 23 Pairs of Socks

Chromosome Socks, displayed in the genetic department at Guys hospital in London
Photograph: Gina Glover

Art and Science of Laboratory Medicine

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Friday, May 10, 2013

Norway: Generational Change In The Lab

Inland Hospital will offer scholarships to bioengineering students to facilitate recruitment for vacancies. In a few years when up to 40 percent of medical laboratory technologists at the healthcare retirement. On several other hospitals also expected a pensioner wave.

Read more:
Generational Change in the lab

Source: Bioingenioren

Art and Science of Laboratory Medicine

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Red blood cell and platelet interactions in healthy females during early and late pregnancy, as well as postpartum

The study suggests that certain interactions between RBCs and platelets may be one of the reasons for an increased hypercoagulability during a healthy pregnancy, and this state continues for a while postpartum. Thus, these RBC/platelet interactions could possibly contribute to gestational thrombocytopenia.

Read more:
Red blood cell and platelet interactions in healthy females during early and late pregnancy, as well as postpartum

Source: Blood

Art and Science of Laboratory Medicine

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Using bacteria to stop malaria

A study in the current issue of Science shows that the transmission of malaria via mosquitoes to humans can be interrupted by using a strain of the bacteria Wolbachia in the insects. In a sense, Wolbachia would act as a vaccine of sorts for mosquitoes that would protect them from malaria parasites. Treating mosquitoes would prevent them from transmitting malaria to humans, a disease that in 2010 affected 219 million people and caused an estimated 660,000 deaths.

Read more:
Using bacteria to stop malaria | Science Codex

Source: Science Codex

Art and Science of Laboratory Medicine

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Pets may help reduce your risk of heart disease

"Pet ownership, particularly dog ownership, is probably associated with a decreased risk of heart disease," said Glenn N. Levine, M.D., professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, and chair of the committee that wrote the statement after reviewing previous studies of the influence of pets.

Read more:
Pets may help reduce your risk of heart disease

Source: Science Daily

Art and Science of Laboratory Medicine

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Thursday, May 9, 2013

Summer Shoes for Microbiology Lovers

A petri dish you can wear on your feet.

View original page:
MICROBIOLOGY by ~jeffquinn on deviantART

Source: jeffquinn

Art and Science of Laboratory Medicine

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How can we make science laboratories more sustainable?

Money for university science is in short supply. Yet a great untapped resource exists: our laboratories. The benefits – financial and performance–based – of improving their efficiency are proven, most recently by a survey of academics, technicians and other practitioners at the 2012 conference of the S-Lab (Safe, Successful, Sustainable Laboratories) initiative.

Read more:
University labs: waste not, want not | Higher Education Network | guardian.co.uk

Source: The Guardian

Art and Science of Laboratory Medicine

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Possible Treatment for Myeloma

A single antibody could be the key to treating multiple myeloma, or cancer of the blood, currently without cure or long-term treatment.
"We tested the antibody in various ways, including on tumour cells from myeloma patients that have been transplanted into mice. The tests showed that the antibody is able to destroy myeloma cells", explains Markus Hansson, a researcher at Lund University in Sweden.

Read more:
Possible Treatment for Serious Blood Cancer - ScienceNewsline

Source: Science Newsline

Art and Science of Laboratory Medicine

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Mathematical Model Measures Hidden HIV

Scientists have long believed that measuring the amount of HIV in a person’s blood is an indicator of whether the virus is actively reproducing.
A University of Delaware-led research team reports new evidence that hidden virus replication may be occurring within the body’s tissue, despite undetectable virus levels in the blood.

Read more:
UD-led team develops mathematical model to measure hidden HIV

Source: UDaily

Art and Science of Laboratory Medicine

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Redefining Quality Patient Care

The practice of Laboratory Medicine and our ability to deliver quality patient care is being transformed by the intersection of legislative, technological, and demographic changes; each is the driver of change for the other two. At the center of this is the laboratory professional, whose work environment is changing at dizzying speeds: always new tests, new instruments, new methodologies, new information systems, new performance requirements, and new workplace rules.

Read more:
Lab Quality Advisor : Redefining Quality Patient Care in an Age of Change