Spiders weave amazing creations from self-made materials human engineers envy. Witness a delicate web covered in rain droplets. How does the arachnid build a structure that’s simultaneously feather-light, incredibly strong, more elastic than nylon and moisture-proof?

Top 5 Signs That You Should Service or Replace Your Gel Imager/Gel Documentation System

Professor Wilhelm Einar Stellan Hjertén of the Institute of Biochemistry, Uppsala University in Sweden, received the Arnold O. Beckman Medal and Award, presented on Monday, March 11th at the 29th International MicroScale Bioseparations Symposium (MSB 2013), held at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville (UVA).

Electrophoresis relies on a basic process — particles moving in an electric field.

Basic research and clinical research labs have long relied on real-time PCR (qPCR) for its speed, sensitivity, specificity and ease-of-use. Common applications include gene expression analysis, mutation detection and identification of copy number variation to better understand inherited disorders, cancer and infectious disease.

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed an ultrasensitive method for detecting sugar molecules — or glycans — coming from living organisms, a breakthrough that will make possible a more detailed understanding of cellular functions than either genetic or proteomic (the study of proteins) information can provide.

To get enough DNA for processing, such as sequencing the chain of nucleotides, researchers turn to the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). A series of reagents drive this process, and that includes polymerase, buffers, and so on.

Problem: A mainstay in life science research, western blotting is commonly used to assess relative protein expression differences, such as when investigating cellular signaling pathways. Accurate quantification requires careful attention to procedural details and normalization.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of commercial thermal cyclers for the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). In brief, this technology amplifies segments of DNA.

Electrophoresis relies on a basic process— particles moving in an electric field, more or less. Although known for more than 200 years, this phenomenon still drives fundamental techniques in many laboratories.