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Our scientists have been busy advancing new projects and sharing completed ones, with recent developments including first steps into cellular and tissue analysis and the expansion of our molecular portfolio. Read on to learn more. |
The LGC Science Conference took place in November, with strong participation from colleagues across LGC. The conference presentations are available to watch here in case you missed the live events. Three posters were submitted focusing on VALIDATE® Biochemistry products from the Maine facility, one of which was selected for live oral presentation. Seven posters were submitted from the Maryland facility, focusing on Clinical Genomics (oncology) and Molecular (AccuPlexTM SARS-CoV-2) products, with two selected for live oral presentation. The Native Antigen Company (TNAC) submitted a poster on stable cell line generation using lentivirus system.
The R&D team have had the opportunity to share their work externally as well as internally. Yves Konigshofer recently gave a symposium presentation at EASI-Genomics UK on the design and development of measurable residual disease reference materials for cancer treatment and monitoring. Additionally, Project Scientist Matt Butler presented a talk on expressed TMB (eTMB) at an online symposium organized by the American Association for Cancer Research. Matt presented a novel approach to assist mutational burden measurements with the goal to help improve patient response. The approach advances new information on mutational burden from TMB cell line standards we already manufacture.
LGC science was also featured in print last fall. A collaborative and foundational publication has been published in the high-impact journal Genetics in Medicine. The article, titled One in seven pathogenic variants can be challenging to detect by NGS: an analysis of 450,000 patients with implications for clinical sensitivity and genetic test implementation testing, validates the utility of plasmid design and spike-in technology to assess difficult variants tested on multiple complex NGS workflows for inherited cancer. The design of the variants, including large insertions and deletions and testing by an inter-laboratory study, can be replicated for other diseases or for difficult to sequence genomic regions.
CDx science continues to develop at a rapid pace. LGC Clinical Diagnostics is stepping into cellular and tissue analysis through the advancement of reference material products and manufacturing technology in cancer diagnostics. This area is being further driven by new approaches, such as multimodal tissue analysis and digital pathology. As a first step into these technology areas, the R&D team is obtaining technical specifications and quotes to acquire a flow cytometer for use by the Technology Development team in Gaithersburg. The flow cytometer for cell analysis and cell sorting is a critical instrument for these applications.
The team at API are continuing to enhance their virtual microscopy proficiency testing portfolio with the development of two new programs for 2022: Advanced Body Fluid Microscopy and Trichomonas. With the recent purchase of their own slide scanning equipment and software, they can now digitize their own slides and streamline the process of developing new and supporting existing virtual programs. In addition, they now have the capability to obtain videos of fresh patient specimens to offer challenges that more closely resemble patient testing. Their virtual Trichomonas program will be the first of its kind for any proficiency testing provider in the U.S.
At The Native Antigen Company, the R&D team has developed functional recombinant human chimeric IgM antibodies. The development of stable cell lines, starting with Zika Envelope and dengue virus serotype 4 virus-like particles, is ongoing.
Finally, Technopath presented a guide to reagent lot reports earlier in 2021. The document is available for download here.
