News

13/02/2012 Mini-System Faecal Parasite Concentrator - New from Quest Biomedical

Clean and efficient collection, transport and filtration of parasites can now be made easier using the new Mini-System Faecal Parasite Concentrator from Quest Biomedical.

Mini-System’s filter design – incorporating separate coarse and fine filters – provides effective filtration of the homogenised sample, resulting in a cleaner sediment and reduced sample loss. The need to use Ethyl Acetate or Ether is avoided, as fat from the sample is effectively removed by the action of Triton and the double filter system.

The filtration system is located inside the sample collection tube for single-step sample collection, filtration and sediment recovery. An effective cap and seal design minimises the risk of leakage, while an integral sample collection spoon and beads allows for the easy collection and homogenisation of the sample.

The Mini-System device fits into a standard 15 ml centrifuge bucket for the efficient concentration of parasites in the sedimentation cone, allowing for easy pipetting for later microscopic analysis, and is available pre-filled with SAF, ECOSAF, MIF, Bailenger or Veronal Buffer (all 4 ml), or as empty devices.
 

23/11/2011 Customised Vircell ELISA Racks Now Available For Dynex DS2 & DSX

Quest Biomedical supplies a wide range of CE marked ELISA kits from Vircell, which are suitable for use on automated ELISA processing systems. Now their use on the Dynex DS2 and DSX systems has been made even easier with the introduction of customised reagent and control racks. The DS2 set contains 1 reagent rack, 1 control rack and software and the DSX set contains 1 rack – suitable for reagent and control – and software.

Vircell produces a wide range of ELISA kits for the detection of the most important pathogenic microorganisms. Vircell ELISA kits require no sample pre-dilution and colour coded, ready-to-use reagents are common to all kits. Plates are also colour coded for easier antigen identification and individual break-apart wells mean you only use the number of wells required for testing.

Multi-test kits are also available, which allow the simultaneous testing of multi-organism disease panels for pneumonia diagnosis, helping to improve laboratory workflow and efficiency.

For more information about Vircell’s customised DS2 and DSX Racks and their full range of ELISA kits click here, call 0121 744 7674 or email sales@questbiomedical.com.
 

22/11/2011 New Appointments at Quest Biomedical

Quest Biomedical is pleased to announce the expansion of our sales team with the appointment of two new Product Specialists.

Rena Singh has joined Quest as an HLA & Stem Cell Product Specialist, covering the UK Midlands and Southern Area. Rena has 12 years experience in Histocompatibility & Immunogenetics, gained whilst working in the NBS Laboratories in both Birmingham and Colindale and, most recently, at Leicester General Hospital where she worked as a Clinical Scientist in the Transplant Laboratory.

Tanja Rockenbach has joined Quest in a new position as Microbiology & Virology Product Specialist, with responsibility for this growing area of the company’s business across the whole of the UK & Ireland, along with the launch of several important new product lines over the coming months. Tanja also has extensive laboratory experience, having spent six years as a Specialist Biomedical Scientist in the Clinical Virology Department at Barts and the London NHS Trust, before joining the Quest team.

For more information about any of Quest Biomedical’s extensive product range, please call 0121 744 7674 or email sales@questbiomedical.com.
 

01/08/2011 Event: 22nd Annual BSHI Conference, September 2011

Quest Biomedical will be exhibiting at this year’s British Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (BSHI) Annual Conference, which is being held at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, Glasgow, Scotland, from 4th - 7th September. This year’s BSHI Annual Conference will be held simultaneously with the 15th Congress of the European Society for Organ Transplantation (ESOT).

On Stand No. 38 we will be showing our range of Gen-Probe Lifecodes Luminex-based HLA typing and antibody detection & identification products, alongside Inno-Train’s new FluoGene system, a typing method that combines the speed of PCR-SSP with Endpoint Fluorescence detection. Also on show will be the Fujifilm QuickGene series of highly cost-effective and easy-to-use systems for isolating DNA and RNA from blood and a wide range of other samples.

Please visit us on Stand No. 38 or, for more information, please call 0121 744 7674 or email sales@questbiomedical.com.

19/07/2011 Event: 29th Annual BBTS Conference, September 2011

Quest Biomedical will be exhibiting at this year’s British Blood Transfusion Society (BBTS) Annual Conference, which is being held at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, Glasgow, Scotland, from 7th -10th September.

On Stand No. 24 we will be showing our new Red Cell molecular typing products: Gen-Probe’s Lifecodes Luminex-based RBC and RBC-R genotyping kits, along with Inno-Train’s new RBC FluoGene system, a typing method that combines the speed of PCR-SSP with Endpoint Fluorescence detection.

Also on show will be CryoDoc and our other Origen products for stem cell processing and cryopreservation, as well as our new range of BMS Tube Sealers.

Please visit us on Stand No. 24 or, for more information, please call 0121 744 7674 or email sales@questbiomedical.com.

17/05/2011 CryoDoc Article Appears in BBTS ‘Bloodlines’

An article about CryoDoc – a closed system for the preservation of Haematopoietic Stem Cells (HSC) – by Richard Brown, Immunology Department Manager at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, has been published in this month’s issue of the BBTS ‘Bloodlines’ Newsletter.

CryoDoc is a new closed system processing set that has been developed specifically to simplify HSC cryopreservation by taking advantage of Sterile Connecting Device (SCD) technology. Using CryoDoc and SCD technology together, cell preparation for cryopreservation can now be simply performed in a closed system outside of a clean room, reducing processing time and cost whilst also offering a means to deal effectively with ever-increasing laboratory workload – important considerations during this period of budget constraints!

For a copy of the article or for more information about CryoDoc or any of our other products for stem cell processing and cryopreservation, please call 0121 744 7674 or email sales@questbiomedical.com.

23/03/2011 Infectious Disease PCR Controls

Quest Biomedical has expanded and updated its range of CE-marked PCR Controls. In response to customer demand, four new quantified DNA controls have been added to the range and our Influenza A and Influenza B RNA control strains have been updated.

New DNA Controls:

MYCOPLASMA HOMINIS
MYCOPLASMA GENITALIUM
MYCOBACTERIUM AVIUM
MYCOBACTERIUM INTRACELLULARE

New RNA Control Strains:

INFLUENZA A H1 strain A/Brisbane/59/2009
INFLUENZA A H3 strain A/Perth/16/2009
INFLUENZA A H5 strain NIBRG-14 (NIBSC)
INFLUENZA B strain B/Brisbane 06/2008

Quest Biomedical now offers a range of more than 80 PCR Controls, most of which are quantified. Our controls contain complete purified DNA or RNA obtained from virus-infected cells and bacteria, confirmed by PCR using specific oligonucleotides obtained from publicly available sequences. They are suitable for use as positive controls in conventional and Real-Time PCR on any PCR platform, and can be used as extraction controls by adding DNA or RNA to negative samples. Quest Biomedical’s PCR Controls are supplied in lyophilised form for safer transport and improved stability and convenience, requiring only simple reconstitution before use.

For a full list of PCR Controls available from Quest Biomedical, or for more information about these or any of our other products, please call 0121 744 7674 or email sales@questbiomedical.com.

17/03/2011 Fujifilm DNA Extraction System

We are pleased to announce that Fujifilm has appointed Quest Biomedical as the distributor of their QuickGene DNA Extraction System in the UK and Ireland.

The QuickGene DNA Extraction System is based on Fujifilm’s patented porous membrane technology: this ultra thin membrane provides outstanding absorption and desorption performance, allowing high purity and high yield nucleic acid extraction at low pressure and in a shorter time compared to conventional glass fibre membranes.

For smaller laboratories and as a backup system for urgent assays the QuickGene-Mini80 is a small, lightweight, tabletop device.

• Small: 28 x 18 cm, only 3 kg
• Fast: gDNA from whole blood in 12 minutes
• Efficient: up to 8 samples simultaneously
• Reliable: high yield, high purity
• Simple: extraction without centrifugation
• Inexpensive: be surprised!

For medium-sized laboratories, the QuickGene-810 device automates the sample binding, washing and elution steps and, for those laboratories that need a larger yield, the QuickGene 610L is available.

QuickGene DNA whole blood kits contain all reagents and tubes necessary for DNA extraction from whole blood samples in a single package. For extractions other than from blood, a detailed list of all the kits and their applications is available in Fujifilm’s QuickGene Application Guide.

For more information about the QuickGene DNA Extraction System or any of our other products, please call 0121 744 7674 or email sales@questbiomedical.com.