International Pet Day, observed each year on April 11th, provides the purrfect opportunity to reciprocate all the labored love and affection our pets so freely give us. There’s no doubt that our furry, feathered, and scaley friends greatly improve our quality of life. But did you know there are benefits to this human-animal bond beyond their incredible cuteness? Read about some of the paw-some science-approved benefits that can come with pet ownership.
Continue reading “The Power of Pet Ownership”General
PARP and DDR Pathways: Targeting the DNA Damage Response for Cancer Treatment
Our cells, and the DNA they contain, are under constant attack from external factors such as ionizing radiation, ultraviolet light and environmental toxins. Internal cellular processes can also generate metabolites, such as reactive oxygen species, that damage DNA. In most cases, DNA damage results in permanent changes to DNA molecules, including DNA mismatches, single-strand breaks (SSBs), double-strand breaks (DSBs), crosslinking, or chemical alteration of bases or sugars. If left unchecked, DNA damage can cause genome instability, mutations and aberrant transcription, and oncogenic transformation.
Fortunately, our cells have also evolved multiple pathways to repair damaged DNA, collectively known as the DNA damage response (DDR). The type of repair mechanism depends on the nature of the damage, and whether the damage occurs in mitochondrial or nuclear DNA. These mechanisms have been reviewed extensively (1,2). Recently, considerable attention has focused on pathways for repairing SSBs and DSBs, mediated by the ADP-ribosylating enzyme known as poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase 1, or PARP-1.
Continue reading “PARP and DDR Pathways: Targeting the DNA Damage Response for Cancer Treatment”Confronting an Emerging Pathogen: Candida auris
HBO’s The Last of Us has successfully brought fungal pathogens to the forefront of the pandemic discourse, raising questions as to whether a fungus could really pose a significant threat to humans. While scientists agree that the fungus featured in the show, cordyceps, won’t be making the required inter-species jump any time soon, there is a fungal pathogen that has been taking root in hospitals across the U.S. which gives some cause for concern: Candida auris.
Continue reading “Confronting an Emerging Pathogen: Candida auris”It’s Time to Automate Your Plasmid Purification
In the fifty years since the first reported transformation of recombinant plasmids into bacteria (1), plasmid cloning has become one of the pillars of synthetic biology research and manufacturing biopharmaceuticals.
But purifying plasmids is no small feat. It can often take hours of hands-on time to go from culture to eluate with low-throughput and time-sensitive manual methods. Automating plasmid purification is the way to go, whether you’re isolating a single plasmid from a large volume culture or creating a library of thousands of different constructs.
How We Connected in 2022
As the calendars turn to a new year, we love to take a moment to look back at the previous year. A lot happened at Promega in 2022! We launched Spectrum CE System, the first capillary electrophoresis instrument compatible with 8-color STR analysis chemistry. We announced that over 20% of our global electricity usage is now generated by renewable sources. We unveiled new employee benefits that aim to support employees dealing with specific life challenges.
Perhaps most importantly, in 2022 we prioritized meaningful connections and deepening our relationships with one another. From honoring employee contributions to marking significant milestones, here are just a few ways Promega teams around the world celebrated and connected in the past year.
Continue reading “How We Connected in 2022”Rocking Out with the Promega Band: Major Groove!
Have you ever heard Guns ‘n’ Roses and Lizzo in the same concert?
When the Promega employee band Major Groove takes the stage, you never know what they might play!
The Promega band started with a handful of employees in 2006 and has grown to include more than 50 active musicians. Today, they play at company meetings, picnics, art shows and much more.
“During my interview process, I was sent a list of links to learn more about Promega. I was like, “Hold the phone! This company has a band!” says Kathryn Sauter, a Business Analyst on the Global Logistics team. “I never thought I’d have an opportunity to participate in a musical extracurricular activity at a place where I work. Promega immediately shot to the top of my list.”
Continue reading “Rocking Out with the Promega Band: Major Groove!”Our Top Three Most-Viewed Blog Posts of 2022
In 2022, our bloggers wrote on topics ranging from monkeypox outbreaks to cultured meat in biotech labs to preventing the next pandemic. Our top three most-viewed blog posts this year have the commonality of Promega products helping to advance important research in different fields and push science a step forward in the world. Take a look at Promega’s top three most-viewed blog posts of 2022.
Continue reading “Our Top Three Most-Viewed Blog Posts of 2022”Recapping the 2022 iGEM Grand Jamboree
On October 26, hundreds of young scientists made their way through Paris to convene at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles for the world’s largest synthetic biology competition. The iGEM Grand Jamboree showcases student projects from around the world that tackle real-world challenges such as nutrition, diagnostics and climate change.
Each year, ten Promega iGEM Grant winners receive $2,500 in free Promega products to support their research. Many Promega branch offices also provide support to teams within their region. In total, 36 iGEM teams were supported by Promega during the 2022 competition.
Six representatives from Promega Madison, France and Germany attended the Jamboree. We met so many incredible scientists and had countless conversations about the exciting future of synthetic biology. At the Closing Ceremonies, we were thrilled to see many of our sponsored teams take home gold medals, trophies, and even the coveted BioBrick Trophy.
Continue reading “Recapping the 2022 iGEM Grand Jamboree”Disease Dynamics and Wastewater Surveillance in the Las Vegas Desert
Wastewater surveillance, or wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE), is a rapidly growing field that has recently proved effective in tracking the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in communities around the world. WBE refers to the process of analyzing the wastewater output from a population to detect the presence of certain compounds or pathogens. Though its use became widespread during the pandemic, many see its ongoing utility in monitoring other infectious diseases as well, including polio, influenza and monkeypox, among others.
One such application of this tool is taking place at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV), where Edwin Oh, Ph.D., is leading a WBE study to keep tabs on disease dynamics in southern Nevada, an area with a population of roughly 2.4 million.
“We do wastewater surveillance for both urban and rural sites, in terms of wastewater treatment plants. We process those samples and we’re able to assess how much virus might be present,” said Oh, who is an associate professor at the Nevada Institute of Personalized Medicine (NIPM) in the UNLV School of Medicine. “We also run wastewater surveillance for specific facilities at the building level, including dormitories, elementary schools and shelters, as well as airports and hotels.”
Continue reading “Disease Dynamics and Wastewater Surveillance in the Las Vegas Desert”Made Just for You: Promega Custom Reagents
At promega.com you’ll find reagents designed for use in your life science research, whether you need to isolate DNA or RNA, determine cell viability or signaling, gain metabolic assay insights, run a reporter bioassay or isolate nucleic acid from wastewater.
Did you know that we also create unique custom reagents? Whether you’re looking for an extra-large size of a compound, a unique type of packaging or package labeling, or a reagent or assay target that’s unique to your project, Promega custom reagents can help.
What Types of Custom Reagents Are Available?
We currently supply custom-made reagents in the areas of amplification, bioluminescence, nucleic acid purification, protein analysis and protein purification. See this Promega Custom Products and Technologies web page for details.
Need a unique master mix for your amplification reaction? This short video provides examples of how we can customize an amplification master mix.
