Applied Biosystems help in fight against drug abuse

Applied Biosystems has helped in the development of a new method for the monitoring of drug abuse.

With analytical laboratory equipment from Applied Biosystems, scientists as the Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) have developed a new way of measuring levels of various illegal drugs in water from sewage treatment plants.

The system will help determine the level of drug abuse in the general population, its developers claim.

In contrast to other methods of determining such data, the new method uses mass spectrometry to test water and provide "accurate, real-time data extremely quickly", according to the firm.

Damia Barcelo, full research professor and head of the CSIC department of environmental chemistry, said: "The new method offers considerable cost and time savings to water analysis laboratories, and will assist the authorities in monitoring drug abuse on a regional basis."

He added the Applied Biosystems mass spectrometry technology is "essential to the process".

Applied Biosystems claims to be a leader in the life science marketplace focused on research and testing, and last month it launched a range of new microRNA analysis tools.