9 Drug Discovery Highlights - Screening Technologies, Cell Biology Innovations & Your Top Rated Products

February was a busy month for the drug discovery and development industry and with SLAS2019 taking center stage, along with our Drug Discovery Screening feature, there has been plenty of big stories and eye-catching innovations. Catch up on some of the latest developments, the most popular content, and the technologies making the biggest impact in laboratories around the world in our monthly round-up. Plus, don't miss our popular download to make your life in the lab more comfortable.

1. Special Feature: Drug Discovery Screening

We take a look at some of the latest trends in screening for drug discovery and the technologies advancing this field, including the latest methods for phenotypic screening, new tools for structure-based drug discovery, CRISPR screening technologies, and developments in data analysis. Plus, hear from the scientists hoping to bring effective treatments to patients faster.

2. CRISPR Screening in Primary Human T Cells - Extending Cell Type Capabilities

Cristina Ghirelli, immuno-oncology manager at Horizon Discovery, discusses the development of a pipeline to perform pooled CRISPR screening in primary T cells through a combined lentiviral and electroporation approach. Watch the webinar on demand to find out more about identifying new metabolic targets involved in cell proliferation control and survival using T cells.

3. Innovating Cell Biology Technology to Improve Human Health

Amy Butler, Ph.D., Neuroscience, Vice President and general manager at Thermo Fisher Scientific, tells us how providing a complete system for cell growth and modification is enabling scientists to harness the power of cells to improve human health.

4. Potency Determination of 16 Cannabinoids by UHPLC with Diode-Array Detection

Since the legalization of cannabis in several US states and, recently, Canada, the quantitative determination of cannabinoids in cannabis products has been of great interest. There are more than 100 cannabinoids that can be found in the plant or extracts. Traditional HPLC is the gold standard for cannabinoid analysis, providing nearly complete separation and robust quantitation. However, for throughput optimization while maintaining sensitivity, a new UHPLC method is required.

SLAS2019 Highlights

5. Top Rated Products

Between December and January, as part of our Scientists’ Choice Awards, you have been busy voting for your favorite Drug Discovery product of 2018 and leaving reviews of other great products in your labs. At SLAS we had the great pleasure to award Best New Drug Discovery & Development Product of 2018 to Thermo Fisher Scientific for the Thermo Scientific™ Q Exactive™ UHMR Hybrid Quadrupole-Orbitrap™ Mass Spectrometer.

The Reviewers' Choice Award for Drug Discovery & Development Product of the Year, which is based on the reviews published on SelectScience over the course of the year, was awarded to Promega Corp.’s NanoBRET™ TE Intracellular Kinase Assay.

6. Enhancing Organ Barrier Function Modelling with Organ-on-a-chip Technology

Find out how Mimetas’ OrganoPlate along with their brand new OrganoTEER impedance spectrometer are pushing the boundaries of cell barrier function modelling and providing insight into disease states and the effects of pharmacological intervention.

7. Miniaturize Illumina Library Prep with the mosquito HV for Increased Sample Throughput

It’s clear that in order to keep up with growing demand for new drug candidates, labs must adapt to increase the efficiency and throughput of their workflows. Assay miniaturization dramatically increases the number of samples and assays that can be run while simultaneously reducing the costs of doing so.

8. Spotted at SLAS2019: 9 Top Technologies from the Exhibition Floor

Thousands of scientists attended the 2019 SLAS Conference in Washington, DC, to witness the latest innovations in automation and screening. If you missed the conference, or didn’t have enough time to take it all in, our editors were on the scene to find the latest, most exciting, emerging laboratory technologies in the field.

And, finally..

9. Easing Muscle Tension from Static Working Postures

Make your life easy and eliminate pain and tension from liquid handling. Repetitive pipetting posture is widely recognised as the biggest source discomfort in the lab. The quick and easy stretching exercises in this popular download will help keep you in top condition.

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