Life Sciences Research

The use of radioactive tracers was pioneered by Georg von Hevesy, a Hungarian physical chemist, who received the Nobel Prize in 1943 for his work on radioactive indicators (1). Radioisotopes have become indispensable components of most medical and life science research strategies, and in addition the technology is the basis for numerous industries focused on the production and detection of radioactive tracers. Thousands of radioactive tracers have been synthesized and are commercially available. These are used worldwide in tens of thousands of research laboratories. 

Radioactive tracers account for about 20% of the worldwide market for consumables and reagents for life science research. In 1994 the value was estimated at about 300 million. The principal fuU line manufacturers are Du Pont—NEN Research Products (Boston, Massachusetts) and Amersham International (Amersham, U.K.). These companies share roughly equaHy about 85% of the radiochemicals worldwide market. In addition to an extensive line of catalog products, these suppHers offer custom labeling and custom synthesis services. The rest of the market is shared by producers of a limited range of products or services, such as ICN Biomedicals (Costa Mesa, California) and American Radiolabeled Chemicals (St. Louis, Missouri). 

Evaluation of the Health Sispects of Com Sugar (Dextrose), Com Symp, and Invert Sugar as Food Ingredients, SCOGS-50, DREW contract no. FDA 223-75-2004, Life Sciences Research Office, Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, Bethesda, Md., 1976. 

Life Sciences Research Ltd (1991) Dibutyltinchloride Assessment of clastogenic action in bone marrow erythrocytes in the micronucleus test. May (Finai Report No. 91/1357). 

As stated on the OMG (Object Management) website (http //www.omg. org/), a lack of data standards results in data conversions, loss of information, lack of interoperability, etc. Current standards du jour are XML (Extensible Markup Language) [17], LSID (Life Sciences Identifiers), and now the RDF (Resource Description Framework) from the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium), which is extensible though hard to implement. Substantial work on OO (Object Oriented) modeling of life science data types takes place at the OMG s LSR (Life Sciences Research) group—this is discussed below. 

In the approaches to data standards, the authors make no apology for using the OMG s life science research group as a structured approach to building new data standards (as both authors have a wealth of experience in bringing standards to the market via this organization [22, 23]). As only a handful of readers will be conversant with the OMG, here is a brief overview on how the OMG works to deliver standards to the life science community. 

Helvey T, Mack R, Avula S, Flook P. Data security in Life Sciences research. Biosilico 2004 2 97-103. 

Evaluation of health aspects of caffeine as a food ingredient SCOGS-89 Report, prepared by the Life Sciences Research Office of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology and Medicine for the Bureau of Foods, FDA, US Dept, of Health, Education and Welfare, Washington, DC, 1978. 

The new partnerships are currently seeking for new applications in nanomaterials development. The business strategy includes the introduction of their products into the life-science research, industrial, and biothreat markets. 

This brief anecdote should serve to illustrate that its extensively interdisciplinary character is not only a strength of bio-EPR but also its Achilles heel. When the production of significant results requires comparable input efforts from different disciplines, there is an increased chance for the occurrence of time-wasting misunderstandings and errors. A less anecdotic example is the claim—frequently found in physics texts—that sensitivity of an EPR spectrometer increases with increasing microwave frequency. Although this statement may in fact be true for very specific boundary conditions—for example, when sensitivity stands for absolute sensitivity of low-loss samples of very small dimensions—when applied in the EPR of biological systems it can easily lead to considerable loss of time and money and to frustration on the part of the life science researcher, because it is simply not true at all for (frozen) solutions of biomolecules. 

For a 75 /.mi ID nano LC column as an example, the MS detection enhancement factor (ion count) in comparison to a 4.6 mm column is much higher than (4.6/0.075)2 = 3761 because of the reduction in sample molecular zone dilution and because a nano LC solvent flow rate at 0.02 to 2 /iL/min can be 100% directly sprayed into the MS ion source. No post-column flow splitting is required for nano-LC-MS as that required when 1 mL/min is used in a 4.6 mm ID column. This large enhancement of MS detection and the ability to directly interface with MS presents nano LC-MS as the best tool for life science research. 

Bootman, J., G.Hodson-Walker, and J.M.Lloyd. 1988b. CFC141b Investigation of mutagenic activity at the HGPRT locus in a Chinese hamster V79 cell mutation system. 88/ PSV005/257, Life Science Research Laboratory, EYE, Suffolk, England (Cited in ECETOC 1994). 

Tesh JM, Ross FW, Secher RG, et al. 1982. S 276 Effects of oral administration upon pregnancy in the rabbit. Report no. R 2351. Life Science Research, Essex, England. 

Chemistry" H. Gerischer and J.J. Katz, Eds. Verlag Chemie, New York, 1979 Vol. 12 in Life Sciences Research Reports. 

Life Science Research Submission of Data by CTFA (2-5-50).Dermal Sensitization Test in Guinea Pigs (TEA), 1975... 

National Institute for Coastal and Marine Management/RIKZ Netherlands Institute for Fisheries Research OpdenKamp-Registration and Notification Wageningen University, Subdepartment of Toxicology Life Science Research Laboratories, Kaneka Corporation Flemish Institute for Technological Research Institute for Environmental Studies, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam... 

Sigma-Aldrich. Electrophoresis — Gel stains, Products for Life Science Research , 2000, pp. 825-829. www.sigma-aldrich.com. 

Current address Chemistry and Life Sciences, Research Triangle Institute, P.O. Box 12194, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709, U.S.A. 

OctaBDE commercial mixtures caused skeletal ossification variations in rats and rabbits at maternally toxic levels and other indications of fetotoxicity at lower doses (Argus Research Laboratories 1985b Life Science Research Israel Ltd. 1987). No maternal effects were observed in rats that were administered 2.5, 10, or 25 mg/kg/day doses of octaBDE (FR-1208) by gavage on Gds 6-15 (Life Science Research Israel Ltd. 1987). Fetal death, as measured by post-implantation loss, was somewhat elevated among litters from... 

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