Research-Specific Labs

As part of the laboratory services division of the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (UDAF), staff members act as gatekeepers for the safety and quality of food in the state.

Many studies suggest that toxins in the environment may be a cause of autism, affecting a mother’s unborn child as it develops. However, proving this for certain is difficult, as it is something that cannot be tested directly.

Each day involves something new at the McCrone Associates microanalysis lab.

One of the major benefits of working in the sciences is the ability to have a positive impact on the world through research or the development of new products. That’s certainly the case with working at Redbiotec AG, a biotechnology company located at the Bio-Technopark in Schlieren, near Zürich, Switzerland.

As lab manager at the University of Pittsburgh Drug Discovery Institute (UPDDI), Celeste Reese and her team use high-content imaging strategies and work with many other labs both within the university and outside the university on a wide range of projects.

All around us is an invisible world that, while most people don’t often think about it, has big effects on our own. As principal investigator (PI) of the Michigan Geomicrobiology Lab in the University of Michigan’s Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Gregory Dick and his staff get to explore that world each day, studying how microorganisms influence larger Earth processes.

Situated in rural Weyauwega, Wisconsin, the Agropur Dairy Cooperative plant continues the rich cheese-making tradition of the state through its production of both cheddar and feta cheese.

“Is my water safe to drink?” Getting the answer to that question is Russell Leu’s main goal as section supervisor of the environmental laboratory in the Montana State Department of Public Health & Human Services (DPHHS).

A University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center study has identified a new potential therapeutic target for controlling high blood sugar, a finding that could help the estimated 25 million Americans with type 2 diabetes.

Using a powerful data-crunching technique, Johns Hopkins researchers have sorted out how a protein keeps defective genetic material from gumming up the cellular works. The protein, Dom34, appears to “rescue” protein-making factories called ribosomes when they get stuck obeying defective genetic instructions, the researchers report in the Feb. 27 issue of Cell.

Indiana University Kokomo will be well represented at the IU Medical School this fall, filling nearly half the class in one program.

Cornell University researchers report they have discovered direct genetic evidence that a family of genes, called MicroRNA-34 (miR-34), are bona fide tumor suppressors.

Hopkins researchers improve modeling of movement in 3D environments, which could lead to better understanding of how metastasis occurs.

For lab manager Mark Lloyd, finding the motivation to come to work every day isn’t difficult. All it takes is an extra-long walk—a routine that started when he was a master’s student working at a shared resource facility at Georgetown University.

From the sun, a solution: Cornell University and Weill Cornell Medical College researchers have remodeled an energy-intensive medical test – designed to detect a deadly skin cancer related to HIV infections – to create a quick diagnostic assay perfect for remote regions of the world, according to Scientific Reports (Feb. 20), an online publication of Nature.

If a driver is traveling to New York City, I-95 might be their route of choice. But they could also take I-78, I-87 or any number of alternate routes. Most cancers begin similarly, with many possible routes to the same disease. A new study found evidence that assessing the route to cancer on a case-by-case basis might make more sense than basing a patient’s cancer treatment on commonly disrupted genes and pathways.

Acetic acid might be used as an inexpensive and non-toxic disinfectant against drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) bacteria as well as other stubborn, disinfectant-resistant mycobacteria.

Unexpected cell loss is the fear and challenge of those who work in cell culture labs. Cells are living organisms that can’t be left on a shelf and forgotten about until needed. Instead, they require constant care and contingency plans at all times.

Lifeline Foods’ lab, which does quality control testing on the corn products the company produces before they are shipped to both domestic and international food and beverage manufacturers, faces unique challenges. We explore the management and communication issues necessary to maintain that lab’s success.