The fine folks at Cleanroom.net just posted a great feature about our work in Chromatography – check it out here.
Category Archives: chromatography
Day Two of EAS 09, Education is the key
One of the great things about the Eastern Analytical Symposium is the number of high school and college students who are bro
ught here to learn more about analytical chemistry.
Our General Manager, Steven Miles, is an excellent teacher and enjoys engaging students with examples of chromatography from the basics of Thin Layer Chromatography to the latest advances in HPLC.
Day One of EAS 2009
We are having a great time at the Eastern Analytical Symposium (EAS) in Somerset, New Jersey.
We’ve met with doctors, distributors, students, lab managers, professors, and many more who want to see what we can do in the field of chromatography.
EAS holds a special place for us, it was at last year’s show when Micky got the idea to add color to our HPLC columns, making them not only memorable, but much more practical – it’s so much easier to tell what’s on the inside of the column when the outside is color-coded.
If you are attending EAS, please stop by Booth #524, and whether you can make it or not, be sure to check out the live updates from our Twitter Feed @iChromatography.
Chromatography plays part in Nobel Prize Winners’ work
Congratulations to Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider, and 
Jack Szostak the 2009 Nobel Prize Winners for medicine.
The three scientists are being honored for discovering a key mechanism in the genetic operations of cells, which has led to new lines of research into cancer.
We would be remiss at this point if we didn’t point out the role chromatography played in their 
research. The following are excerpts from the book, “Elizabeth Blackburn and the story of Telomeres – Deciphering the ends of DNA” by Catherine Brady:
“Oligonuclieotides that ran at a similar rate were further separated using chromatography (two-dimensional, or 2D, separation).”
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“Knowing they would have to clean up the extract in order to begin purifying the enzyme, Greider now conducted column chromatography, which provided extensive purification of the enzyme.”
We would also like to point out that Carol Greider seems to have an excellent sense of humor, as noted in this interview with the Associated Press this morning:
Greider, 48, said she was telephoned by just before 5 a.m. her time with the news that she had won.
“It’s really very thrilling, it’s something you can’t expect,” she told The Associated Press by telephone.
People might make predictions of who might win, but one never expects it, she said, adding that “It’s like the Monty Python sketch, ‘Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!'”
So there you have it, chromatography and an appreciation for Monty Python can be keys to getting a Nobel Prize.
Again, congratulations to this years’ recipients – the world is a better place because of your contributions.
Science and Social Media
Here’s a few great tools to use to connect with others in
the science community.
First, we have BioCrowd – A Social Network for Bioscience Professionals – click here to sign up
Next, for all who will be joining us at Pittcon, there’s PittConnect – this is an excellent way for 
anyone to make connections well in advance of the conference. click here to check out PittConnect.
For anyone who want to connect with others using 
chromatography, be sure to theck out the CHROMmunity by clicking here.
Stay Connected!
Analtech Video Campaign Inducted into Viral Marketing Hall of Fame
NEWARK, DE – Analtech, Inc., the only U.S.-based manufacturer of thin layer chromatography plates, was inducted today into MarketingSherpa’s 2009 Viral Marketing Hall of Fame for the company’s viral video, “The Adventures of Ana L’Tech.”
This is the fifth year MarketingSherpa, a research firm specializing in tracking what works in all aspects of marketing, has inducted members into the Hall of Fame. This year’s inductees include:
• Analtech’s Adventures of Ana L’Tech Video
• Atlassian’s Stimulus Package
• California State Parks Foundation’s Friend Get A Friend
• Disney’s What Will You Celebrate?
• Grasshopper’s Chocolate Covered Grasshopper Mailing
• Microsoft’s I Am Enabled
• Rita’s Italian Ice Mystery Flavor
“This is a great honor,” said Analtech General Manager Steven Miles, “We’ve enjoyed great feedback from our customers and colleagues for this project – we’re proud to now receive this recognition from MarketingSherpa.”
The video was produced by the Delaware Film Company and written and directed by Christopher Stout.
“I am proud of the work done by everyone in this project,” Stout said. “This recognition from MarketingSherpa demonstrates that every company, regardless of how much of a niche their market is, can benefit from a well produced viral campaign.”
Since the launch of “The Adventures of Ana L’Tech” in September of 2008, the video has been featured on dozens of web sites and blogs around the world and has received praise from those in both the scientific and comedic communities.
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Ned Dugan featured in TLC Forum
Analtech’s Technical Director, Ned Dugan, is featured in a
recently posted Technology Forum on Thin Layer Chromatography on LCGC’s Chromatography Online.
Here’s an excerpt:
What advantages does TLC have over other methods for pharmaceutical analysis?
Dugan: In some ways, TLC can offer obvious advantages to other methods for analysis. Usually TLC is simpler, faster, more environmentally friendly, and significantly less expensive than other forms of analysis. Minimal sample preparation is required and solvent consumption is comparatively low. In addition, TLC is a very simple and forgiving method of analysis. If a mistake is made, very little time or resources are wasted.
In other ways, TLC can be the perfect compliment to other methods of analysis. Besides the fact that TLC is used as an inexpensive pilot method for establishing separation protocols, there are many hyphenated chromatography techniques that involve TLC.
Chromatography used to identify molecules from space
Excerpts from an article at Genomeweb.com:
Scientists from NASA this week reported that they have detected the amino acid glycine in samples of the comet Wild 2 gathered by the spacecraft
Stardust, adding ammunition to the theory that life on Earth may have extraterrestrial beginnings and that life may exist elsewhere in space.
…
In January 2004 Stardust passed through the dense gas and dust surrounding the icy nucleus of the comet Wild 2. As it did, it collected gas and dust samples in a collection grid filled with a special aerogel. The grid was then stowed in a capsule that detached from Stardust and parachuted to Earth two years later.
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In preliminary tests, glycine was detected in both the sample of the aerogel and aluminum foil from the sides of the chambers that held the aerogel in the collection grid.
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But though glycine was detected, it was unclear whether that was due to contamination from terrestrial sources. To determine whether the glycine had in fact come from outer space, Elsila and his fellow researchers performed gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry and isotope ratio mass spectrometry.
The most common form of carbon, carbon 12, has six protons and six neutrons in its nucleus. A glycine molecule from space, however, tends to have more of the heavier isotope carbon 13, which carries an extra neutron in its nucleus, than a glycine from Earth. Because the glycine from the Stardust samples contained carbon 13, “the carbon isotopic signature was extraterrestrial, proving that this glycine is cometary,” Elsila said.
Identification of mycobacteria by high-performance liquid chromatography
The National Center for Biotechnology Information has 
posted a paper on the advantages of using HPLC for identifying mycobacteria.
Here’s an excerpt:
It was established that results of HLPC use were highly correlated with results of microbiologic methods of mycobacteria identification: for identification of M. tuberculosis complex the correlation was 97.0%, for nontuberculous (NTM) slowly growing mycobacteria–95.3%, for quickly growing NTM–96.2% (overall–96.1%). Results of identification of mycobacteria by HPLC were ready in significantly shorter time-frame (during 24 hours).
Click Here for more.
VIDEO REPORT: Chromatography used to identify 300 Year-Old Native American Dyes
WHYY Senior Health and Science Reporter Kerry Grens’ report on research by University of Delaware Doctoral Student Christina Cole on the composition of dyes used by Native Americans using chromatography. The report features an explanation of chromatography by Analtech General Manager Steven Miles and an interview with Delaware State University Prof. Claytrice Watson about forensic science.