Problem: Mass spectrometry (MS) has become an indispensible technology for the analysis of compounds of biological interest, is widely available and offers rapid and accurate detection with broad applicability.

Problem: Pharma and biotech companies are striving to reduce drug attrition rates within the drug discovery process.

The environmental safety and food production industries are facing a rapidly changing climate, being increasingly affected by regulatory and financial pressures.

This simple idea preceded by 15 years the requirements of the OSHA Lab Standard for “Standard Operating Procedures,” “Control Measures” and “Special Provisions for Working with Particularly Hazardous Substances.”

Stephen Barnes, Ph.D., Professor of Pharmacology & Toxicology and Director of the Targeted Metabolomics and Proteomics Laboratory at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), talks about the changes taking place in the field of mass spectrometry (MS) as it migrates from the research lab to a clinical environment.

No matter how old or young workers may be, certain management principles are usually effective: make them accountable for their work, treat them with respect, and say thank you. These principles have value whether you work at a large corporation or in a small scientific lab.

We probably all have things that we say to ourselves when we are trying to push toward something new or different. Some of mine are: “Enough is enough,” “Wake up,” and “Aw, what the heck, do it anyhow.”

To appreciate the significance—or the ubiquity— of commercial tamper protection, one needn’t go any farther than the local grocery store. You, and many other consumers, probably wouldn't use a product with a broken seal. If grocery store patrons have a low tolerance for uncertainty, imagine the burden of proof facing scientific intellectual property owners in a court of law.

“Intellectual property has the shelf life of a banana,” commented Microsoft’s Bill Gates. So why should laboratory managers worry about keeping intellectual property confidential? Gates’ statement may be true for computers and information technology. However, in many other business areas, intellectual property can have a much longer shelf life and needs to remain confidential for many years.