Thermo Fisher announces expanded biomarker research centre

Thermo Fisher Scientific’s centre for Biomarker Research Initiative in Mass Spectrometry has expanded its capabilities, it has emerged.

Although originally focused on protein biomarker discovery and end-to-end mass spectrometry workflow, the centre’s work will now also include clinical validation and clinical application assays.

The centre will expand and establish collaborations with leading scientists in biomarker research in cancer and cardiovascular disease, in an attempt to develop clinical workflows and platforms.

Mary Lopez, director of the centre, comments: "The centre’s focus is shifting.

"Proteomics is evolving and as proteomics has gone from a science that was really more discovery-based into a science that is becoming now more quantitative and has applications in the clinical world, we have also moved forward."

Last week it was reported that Thermo Fisher Scientific’s new PCR buffer will cut down the number of pipetting and reagent handling steps in PCR operations.

According to Laboratory Talk, the firm’s ReddyMix PCR Buffer has been produced with a special red tracker dye, which means that laboratories will not have to use separate dyes when loading PCR products on to agarose gels.