A few days ago I was invited by Merck Millipore to contribute to the Forum they organized in Shanghai. Besides being one of the speakers –more details below-, SEPMAG has also been involved as sponsor. We believed the direct contact with IVD-magnetic beads users in China, as well as with the technical worldwide contributors, is the only way to still push forward this technology.
Devising a safe and efficient protocol for using magnetic nanoparticles to target drug delivery is an ongoing challenge whose study has yielded promising results. While the majority of these studies have been focused on delivering cytotoxic drugs to cancer cells, there is a range of possible applications for which targeted delivery could prove invaluable.
The necessity of finding a safer and more efficient way to treat cancer has led investigators to naturally turn their attention toward nanoparticles. Recently, a group of researchers in Sweden has come up with a novel system of utilizing magnetic particles to trigger apoptosis, thus resulting in the self-destruction of tumor cells. The findings, published in the journal ACS Nano, signify a promising approach to cancer treatment, with implications extending beyond oncology and encompassing a range of clinical applications.
Investigators at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) in Japan have developed a protocol for manufacturing biocompatible hybrid nanoparticles. The resulting particles have magnetic as well as optical properties. They are suitable for clinical use and can be customized for utilization in a wide range of applications.
Approximately 400 participants will gather in Dresden, Germany, for the 10th International Conference on the Scientific and Clinical Applications of Magnetic Carriers, to be held on June 10, 2014. The conference, hosted by the Faculty of Mechanical Science and Engineering at the Technical University of Dresden, will run for five days and cover a range of topics related to magnetic carrier technology.
Next week, 18,000 scientists and other cancer professionals from around the world are projected to move to 2014 AACR Annual Meeting, in San Diego. Attendees are laboratory scientists and clinical investigators specializing in all aspects of cancer research, including experimental therapeutics, molecular targeted therapies, chemistry, molecular biology and genetics, immunology and immunotherapy, tumor biology, virology, toxicology, prevention, and clinical and translational research.
Merck Millipore has invited experts from around the globe to attend the symposium it has organised at the Hilton Hotel in Shanghai on May 15 and 16. The event will include contributors from China, as well as Germany, New Zealand, Russia, Spain and USA.
The traditional way to check whether a biomagnetic separation process is complete is by sight. The technician/researcher looks at the suspension: at the beginning of the process, the suspension is homogenous and opaque, but when the separation process is complete, the magnetic beads are left on the walls of the vessel and the supernatant is transparent. When the suspension is ‘transparent’, the technician stops the process by extracting the supernatant, leaving the magnetic beads in the bottle.
Microalgae become the exclusive focus in research of biofuel production to meet global energy demand. Photosynthetic microalgae use the sunlight to form biomass from the supplement of carbon dioxide and water. One of the main constituents of microalgal biomass is the natural oil stored within the cells. This natural oil can be further transformed into biodiesel through a transesterification process. The biofuel is renewable with huge potential to replace the fossil fuel. The International Energy Agency has reported that the total final oil consumption of the world in 2010 has reached 3575 Mtoe.1
