Author: Johanna Lee

Understanding Inflammation: A Faster, Easier Way to Detect Cytokines in Cells

Posted on by Johanna Lee

Inflammation, a process that was meant to defend our body from infection, has been found to contribute to a wide range of diseases, such as chronic inflammation, neurodegenerative disorders—and more recently, COVID-19. The development of new tools and methods to measure inflammation is crucial to help researchers understand these diseases.

This diagram shows how the Lumit™ Immuno assay can be used to detect cytokines.

Cytokines—small signaling molecules that regulate inflammation and immunity—have recently become the focus of inflammation research due to their role in causing severe COVID-19 symptoms. In these severe cases, the patient’s immune system responds to the infection with uncontrolled cytokine release and immune cell activation, called the “cytokine storm”. Although the cytokine storm can be treated using established drugs, more research is needed to understand what causes this severe immune response and why only some patients develop it.

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Comparing Methods for Detecting SARS-CoV-2 in Wastewater

Posted on by Johanna Lee
Image of coronavirus superimposed over laboratory tech performing an experiment. Methods for detecting SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater are becoming standardized.

Wastewater surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 is an increasingly common method for monitoring the spread of COVID-19 within a community. As researchers and public health officials around the world are working together to set up wastewater surveillance systems, there is an urgent need to establish standard SARS-CoV-2 detection methods.

A key leader in this new field is Dr. Gloria Sanchez. She is a tenured scientist at the Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology, a center within the Spanish National Research Council. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, her team focused on detecting human enteric viruses in food and water. But soon, detecting SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater became their main focus.

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Monochromator vs Filter-Based Plate Reader: Which is Better?

Posted on by Johanna Lee

When it comes to purchasing a microplate reader for fluorescence detection, the most common question is whether to choose a monochromator-based reader or filter-based reader. In this blog, we’ll discuss how both types of plate readers work and factors to consider when determining the best plate reader for your need.

How do monochromator-based plate readers work?

Monochromators work by taking a light source and splitting the light to focus a particular wavelength on the sample. During excitation, the light passes through a narrow slit, directed by a series of mirrors and diffraction grating and then passes through a second narrow slit prior to reaching the sample. This ensures the desired wavelength is selected to excite the fluorophore. Once the fluorophore is excited, it emits light at a different, longer wavelength. This emission light is captured by another series of mirrors, grating and slits to limit the emission to a desired wavelength, which then enters a detector for signal readout.

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A SARS-CoV-2 NanoLuc® Reporter Virus for Rapid Screening of Antivirals

Posted on by Johanna Lee
nanoluc invivo imaging

Before the COVID-19 global pandemic began, Dr. Xuping Xie, Assistant Professor of the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, TX has been studying viruses, such as Dengue and Zika, for more than 10 years. Once the pandemic hit in early 2020, he was prepared to join the fight against the virus. “There was an urgent need to know: Is there a quicker way to develop therapeutics or antibodies to target SARS-CoV-2?” says Dr. Xie. “That’s why we immediately launched our SARS-CoV-2 project.”

His goal was to create an assay that could 1) screen for antiviral drugs and 2) quickly measure neutralizing antibody levels. The assay could be used to determine the immune status of previously infected individuals and to evaluate various vaccines under development. To achieve this, he wanted to create a reporter virus that is genetically stable and replicates similarly to the wild-type virus in cell culture. 

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Observing the Human Developmental Clock with Bioluminescence Live-Cell Imaging

Posted on by Johanna Lee

What is the Developmental Clock?

The development of the human embryo is a complicated process that involves careful coordination of thousands of genes. Just like musical instruments in an orchestra, each gene performs its role—sometimes silent, sometimes intense—but always right on cue. The tempo of the symphony, or the speed of embryonic development, depends on an intrinsic biological clock known as the developmental clock. The developmental clock is like the conductor of the orchestra, controlling the tempo of the music and ensuring that each gene is expressed at the right moment with the right intensity. If just one gene is expressed too soon or going one beat too fast, it could disrupt the harmony of the whole symphony, resulting in an improperly developed embryo.

One example of what could happen when the developmental clock is disrupted is a disease called spondylocostal dysostosis (SCDO). SCDO is a genetic disorder that causes abnormal formation of the spine and ribs. Patients often have a short neck and trunk, and an abnormal curvature in the spine (scoliosis). SCDO can be caused by a mutation in the HES7 gene. HES7 is an “oscillating gene”, a kind of gene that is expressed in a rhythmic pattern—like the beating of a drum. This rhythm is essential for forming our ribs and each vertebra of our spine—a process known as “segmentation”—during early embryonic development.

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A Bioluminescent Biosensor for Detection of Mycotoxins in Food

Posted on by Johanna Lee

3D artistic rendering of a NanoBiT assay, the system used in this study for detection of mycotoxins in food

Food contamination is a serious global health issue. According to the WHO, an estimated 600 million, almost 1 in 10 people globally, suffer from illness after eating contaminated food—and 420,000 die. Developing new technologies for more effective testing of food contaminants can help reduce that number and improve public health.

A recent application of bioluminescent technology could change the way we test for mycotoxins in the future. Dr. Jae-Hyuk Yu, Professor of Bacteriology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and his then graduate student, Dr. Tawfiq Alsulami, collaborated with Promega to develop a bioluminescent biosensor that enables simple and rapid detection of mycotoxins in food samples.

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How the Pandemic Changed Us

Posted on by Johanna Lee

This past year has been a challenging one for most of us. The COVID-19 global pandemic has changed the way we live. We are working from home, our kids are learning online, we can’t gather with friends and family, we are wearing masks, we no longer attend in-person events. All of this change around us has profoundly affected us in many ways.

We asked our Promega colleagues how the pandemic changed their lives and how they adapted. How are they feeling? What keeps them going? What lessons have they learned? And what good has come out of it? Here’s what they said.

Photo credit: Johanna Lee
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Automation Helps A Graduate Student Monitor COVID-19 With Wastewater

Posted on by Johanna Lee
Kasia Slipko (middle) and her lab at Vienna University of Technology. She and colleagues are exploring using wastewater to monitor viral disease outbreaks.
Kasia Slipko (middle) and her lab at Vienna University of Technology. She and colleagues are exploring using wastewater to monitor viral disease outbreaks.

When Kasia Slipko started graduate school at Vienna University of Technology, Institute for Water Quality and Resource Management, she was interested in studying antibiotic resistant microbes in wastewater. For three years, she evaluated different wastewater treatment methods to find out how to remove antibiotic resistant bacteria. But in the spring of 2020, her research took an unexpected turn. That was when the COVID-19 global pandemic hit, caused by the rapid spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Kasia soon found herself at the forefront of another exciting field: using wastewater to monitor viral disease outbreaks.

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How A New SARS-CoV-2 Wastewater Testing Kit is Helping Campuses Reopen

Posted on by Johanna Lee

The fall of 2020 was like no other, especially for universities. The COVID-19 pandemic hit most of the world in the spring, forcing schools and businesses to close. For months, people worked from home and schools switched to online classes. When fall came, universities had a difficult decision to make. Do they have students and staff come back to campus for in-person classes? With students living together in close proximity in dormitories, an outbreak could quickly get out of hand. How can the university monitor and control the spread of the virus to ensure everyone’s safety?

This was when Robert Brooks started getting calls. He’s the Technical Director and Operations Manager at Microbac Laboratories in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Microbac is a network of privately owned laboratories that provide testing services for food products, environmental samples and the life science industry. Robert has been in the lab industry for 25 years and has established a reputation for taking on difficult problems. “We really try to go that extra mile to help clients solve their issues. That has made a name for us out there. When people have odd-ball issues, they give us a call cause we’re going to take a look at it from a couple different viewpoints and take a step-by-step approach,” he says.

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Finding a Cure for COVID-19: Spotlight on Virologist Dr. Colleen Jonsson

Posted on by Johanna Lee
Photograph of Dr. Jonsson of UTSHC whose research includes finding small molecule antivirals for SARS-CoV-2
Dr. Colleen Jonsson, UTHSC

Since the COVID-19 pandemic swept the world in early 2020, many scientists in the viral research community have shifted their focus to study the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. Dr. Colleen Jonsson is one of them. She’s the Director of the Regional Biocontainment Laboratory, and Director of the Institute for the Study of Host-Pathogen Systems at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) in Memphis.

Dr. Jonsson has been studying highly pathogenic human viruses for more than three decades. She has led several cross-institutional projects using high-throughput screens to discover small molecule antiviral compounds that could be used as therapeutics. And now, she’s using that experience to find an antiviral therapeutic against SARS-CoV-2.

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