Forensic Science

Thermo Fisher Scientific, Molecular Biology

Invitrogen E-Gel Precast Agarose Gels enable fast and sensitive analysis of DNA and RNA samples. Minimize time-consuming and messy prep work, running up to twice as fast as conventional handcast gels. E-Gel Precast Agarose Gels are available in a variety of agarose percentages, well formats, and throughput capacities to suit your applications.

Save Time with Invitrogen E-Gel Precast Agarose Gels

FRITSCH Milling and Sizing

See how you can effectively combine our Particle Sizers ANALYSETTE 22 NeXT for the measurement of particle size and the ANALYSETTE 28 for Dynamic Image Analysis.<br>[url][link] https://www.fritsch-international.com/particle-sizing/overview// [/link][name] High-Tech Particle Sizing [/name][/url]

Using Image Analysis to verify Laser Diffraction Results

Custom Videos from Technology Networks

Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES) is a well-established technique that provides sensitive, accurate, and precise measurements of the concentration of elements across a range of applications.

However, as with any technique, errors can occur during sample preparation and measurement, or as a result of operational issues with the instrument.

Watch this video to find out more about how ICP-OES works, some of the common challenges faced and choosing the right instrument for your needs.

How To Prevent Common ICP-OES Instrument Problems

Analytical Cannabis 

With the passing of the 2018 Farm Bill legalizing hemp and different US states legalizing Cannabis products, farmers are allowed to grow cannabis and hemp. Like any other agricultural crop, pesticides are applied to cannabis and hemp plants to protect it from pests and improve growth yield. Chronic exposure to pesticides can lead to serious health risks and therefore pesticide analysis in Cannabis and hemp is important for consumer safety and quality control. Among all of states in USA, California has issued most stringent action limits for 66 pesticides residues in cannabis flower, cannabis infused edibles, concentrates and hemp.  Normally pesticide analysis in cannabis and other food matrices is done by both GCMSMS and LCMSMS since some nonpolar and chlorinated pesticides such as pentachloronitrobenzene, chlordane and others are difficult to ionize with electrospray source used in LCMSMS systems.   We would demonstrate how we measured these compounds at low levels using LCMSMS with APCI source. The ionization mechanism of chlorinated pesticides such as pentachloronitrobenzene and others using LCMSMS system with APCI source would be presented. We analyzed all of 66 pesticides (including very hydrophobic and chlorinated pesticides typically analyzed by GCMSMS) spiked in  hemp and cannabis samples  well below the action limits specified by California State. Hemp and cannabis matrix is challenging and therefore it causes ion suppression and matrix inference for response of some of pesticides. We would demonstrate approaches to mitigate these matrix effects from cannabis and hemp. Sample preparation is the main bottleneck for achieving the high throughput analysis of pesticides in cannabis/hemp testing labs. For sample preparation, we used solvent extraction since it is a quick, cheap and easy way to achieve high extraction recovery in comparison to other time-consuming sample preparation techniques like solid phase extraction (SPE) and QuEChERS. Also, the performance of LC-MS/MS method was checked by conducting blind emerald scientific’s proficiency test for 66 pesticides in hemp. The proficiency test report generated with LCMSMS method showed acceptable results for all of 66 pesticides in hemp with no false positives and negatives.

Overcoming Challenges associated with analysis of all of pesticides regulated by California

Real-time PCR is the method of choice for contemporary microbiological quality analysis of cannabis products. Its reliability is already proven for many years for analysis of food products and beverages, outcompeting traditional culture in both specificity and sensitivity. With the ever increasing amount of cannabis-infused products on the market, BIOTECON Diagnostics as long standing partner in the food safety diagnostic industry can bring all its experience to the market. 
 Matrices in Cannabis and Cannabis-infused products can range from pure plant materials with lots of secondary metabolites to highly processed products, such as gummy bears and brownies. The sheer variety of matrices are challenging to come by, especially in regards to sample preparation and DNA extraction in many labs. The efficient removal of dead cell background, where necessary, and PCR-inhibitors during extraction is what sets BIOTECON’s extraction apart. As a leader in viability PCR, BIOTECON’s Reagent D eliminates dead microbes from the PCR, enabling results that perfectly match traditional culture.
With over 20 years of experience in real-time PCR analysis, BIOTECON Diagnostics has assembled a portfolio of open-platform cannabis testing solutions combining highest sensitivity, specificity, speed and convenience that perfectly fits the needs of any lab. This includes our unique foodproof Yeast and Mold Quantification LyoKit and our brand new multiplex kit for Aspergillus detection and identification. 
With its long standing history and experience in real-time PCR based kits, BIOTECON Diagnostics is a pioneer and a premier partner to support clients in the Cannabis industry to ensure product safety.

qPCR Testing for microbial contaminants in Cannabis and Cannabis-infused products

Speaking at The Science of Cannabis 2020 Online Symposium, Sarah Dalton, US Hemp and Cannabis Leader for Ernst & Young presented her talk on the challenges of regulating CBD from the FDA perspective.

Abstract: Recent warning letters and Consumer Updates from the FDA have sent a chill through the CBD industry. Anticipated market entrants like Coca-Cola, Mondelez, Starbucks and Kellogg’s that would have bought up much of the CBD inventory produced from a record-year of hemp cultivation have mostly stayed on the sidelines, leading to a precipitous fall in hemp and hemp derivative prices. This regulatory uncertainty is leading CBD companies to come up with novel approaches to develop and market their products while staying afloat in this volatile market. Join Sarah as she discusses what the current FDA position on CBD is, projected regulatory rules and pathways, existing CBD products and their ability to market medical claims including OTC monograph topicals, and the role of individual states in regulating CBD, THC and minor cannabinoids. 

The FDA challenge for regulating CBD 

Speaking at The Science of Cannabis 2020 Online Symposium, Rafael Acosta, Senior Scientist from our Platinum Sponsor MilliporeSigma presented his fascinating talk on terpenes analysis using GC/MS.

Abstract: Terpenes are a class of compounds responsible for a particular aroma or fragrance in a cannabis flower. As such, determining the terpene profile of a cannabis strain can be of importance due to cannabis customers seeking a desired aroma or effect. It has been proposed that terpenes enhance the therapeutic properties of cannabinoids what is referred to as the entourage effect. As there are no current universal regulatory requirements in terms of terpenes testing this webinar is meant to serve as a guidance to customers developing terpenes analysis methods with their own terpenes analytes of interest. Herein we propose a fast and efficient way to determine the terpene profile of hemp or cannabis flower which utilizes a simple sample preparation based on liquid extraction. This approach minimizes sample preparation time, solvent consumption and reduces time to obtain reproducible analytical results. In this workflow 31 cannabis related terpenes are analyzed via GC/MS in full scan mode using Certified Reference Standards. Tridecane is used as the internal standard as it is not found in the samples and elutes in the middle of the chromatogram. The full scan spectra of the reference standard mix, calibration standards and samples were searched and matched against the NIST GC/MS spectra library. The method can be easily modified and adapted to include additional terpenes of interest and be able to identify and quantitate them with the same approach.

Complete Workflow for Comprehensive Cannabis Terpenes Analysis via GC/MS

Chromatography & Mass Spectrometry Solutions

Hear directly from the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at Iowa State University about how the Thermo Scientific™ Orbitrap Exploris™ 120 mass spectrometer enables them to provide high quality service to their clients who need results quickly in a variety of sample types.

Enabling Testing Labs to provide high quality results to clients

Learn how to maximize your return on investment in a unified Thermo Scientific™ mass spectrometry architecture from data acquisition through analysis solutions.

Forensic Science

Refine By

Keep up to date with all your favourite videos and channels.

Get personalised notifications on new releases and channel content by subscribing to the LabTube eNewsletter.