The Column - July 2007 - (Page 6)

News The Column www.thecolumn.eu.com July 2007 News AB helps uncover molecular signatures in human stem cells Scientists working with the International Stem Cell Initiative (ISCI) have identified a set of common gene expression markers that may be used to reliably characterize diverse human embryonic stem cells (hESC). Stem cells offer the potential to develop new therapies for cancer, diabetes, spinal cord injury and degenerative diseases of the nervous system such as Parkinson’s disease. Well-characterized, stable cell lines that can be reproduced are essential for successful stem cell research. The ISCI team employed technology from Applied Biosystems to perform the of individual hESC lines to differentiate into other types of cells (pluripotency status). The ISCI scientists used the Applied Biosystem 7900HT fast real-time PCR system and custom TaqMan arrays to identify 6 key genetic markers and 14 additional genes highly correlated with a key pluripotency marker in all the cell lines tested. This research was conducted at the centralized analytical laboratory at the University of Sheffield, UK. For more detailed information please visit the organization’s website at www.stemcellforum.org or the company’s website at www.appliedbiosystems.com comparative study of a large and diverse collection of hESC lines from 17 laboratories in the US, Europe, Israel, Japan and Australia. Several approaches were used to identify a reliable set of genetic markers to characterize hESCs, these included profiling 93 genes in 59 different cell lines. From this initial phase the researchers found that all of the cell lines studied shared a number of key molecular signatures, even though they had been subjected to different genetic constitutions and culture techniques. It is expected that these identified molecular markers may be used to validate the potential Jasco honoured with chirality award The Molecular Chirality Research Organization (MCRO) presented an award to Professor Hiroshi Tsukube (Osaka City University) and Jasco at this year’s Molecular Chirality Symposium. The Japanese Molecular Chirality Award honours scientists and companies that have made distinguished contributions in the field of molecular chirality. The symposium was initiated by the Pharmaceutical Society of Japan in 1992 to promote progress in the pharmaceutical sciences dealing with chiral drugs. It was held under the auspices of the Chemical Society of Japan and six other Japanese scientific societies. The participation has grown over the years to include a diverse range of disciplines such as organic synthesis, natural products, pharmacology, medicinal chemistry, polymer chemistry and many others. A bronze sculpture of a lady’s hand designed to signify chirality, which is derived from the Greek word meaning “handedness”, was presented to the recognized recipients. For more information visit Jasco’s website at www.jasco.co.uk Links: 6 www.appliedbiosystems.com www.jasco.co.uk http://www.thecolumn.eu.com http://www.stemcellforum.org http://www.appliedbiosystems.com http://www.jasco.co.uk http://www.appliedbiosystems.com http://www.jasco.co.uk

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Column - July 2007

Contents
News
Industrial-Scale Chromatography: A Cost- and Time-Effective Purification Solution
Do We Really Need Consultants?
Market Trends and Analysis
Dalian ISCC 2007 Review
It's A Small World

The Column - July 2007