Inside Instrumentation

Bruker, Isis in biosensor deal

Bruker Daltonics and Isis Pharmaceuticals have formed a manufacturing and distribution alliance after working together for nine years to develop a new biosensor system. The system combines Isis' Ibis T5000 biosensor and Bruker's micrOTOF ESI-TOF mass spectrometer. Developed with government funding by the Ibis Biosciences division of Isis, the biosensor uses genomics, modeling, mass spectrometry, and molecular amplification to generate "fingerprints" of microorganisms. As a result, thousands of different types of microorganisms can be simultaneously identified in a sample. Bruker will manufacture the system worldwide, and the two companies have divided marketing rights among various regions. The Ibis T5000 is currently for research use only and hasn't been approved for any regulated uses, such as in vitro diagnostics.

FEI names CEO, makes product gains

FEI, an Oregon-based developer of focused ion- and electron-beam technologies, has named Don R. Kania as its new president and chief executive officer. Kania, 51, joins the company from Veeco Instruments, where he was president and chief operating officer. FEI has also announced two new product developments. It has launched the Helios NanoLab DualBeam system, which combines focused ion-beam and scanning electron microscope technology, for sample preparation and analysis in conjunction with FEI's Titan scanning/transmission electron microscope (S/TEM). The company also reports that, using a corrected Titan 80-300 kV S/TEM, its scientists have obtained directly interpretable TEM images with atomic resolution better than 1.4 ?? at the very low operating voltage of 80 kV.

New X-ray source, acquisition

PANalytical and Rigaku Innovative Technologies have teamed up to introduce a microfocus X-ray source, which consists of a sealed microfocus tube and generator from PANalytical integrated with X-ray optics designed by Rigaku. Meanwhile, Bruker AXS has acquired KeyMaster Technologies, Kennewick, Wash., which develops and manufactures portable handheld X-ray fluorescence systems (shown).

XPS system takes off

Thermo Electron has launched a new X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy instrument for materials characterization. The K-Alpha (shown) can quantitatively determine the surface composition of the top few nanometers of a broad range of materials, including insulators, semiconductors, and metals. The system is specifically designed for high-throughput sample analysis in the biotechnology, nanotechnology, and pharmaceutical industries, in addition to traditional materials characterization.

Companies expand SNP offerings

New products from several companies will help researchers in their quest to use knowledge about the genetic differences known as single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Affymetrix is set to introduce a 1 million-SNP product early next year. Separately, Illumina announced its new HumanHap550+ product, which allows researchers to customize the company's bead-based genotyping assay with as many as 120,000 additional SNP markers. Meanwhile, Applied Biosystems has added more than a million new SNP genotyping assays based on the recently completed International HapMap to its TaqMan collection.

Malvern acquires Spectral Dimensions

Malvern Instruments, a U.K.-based developer of particle and rheological characterization instruments, has acquired U.S.-based Spectral Dimensions. The acquired company produces near-infrared chemical imaging instrumentation and software, serving customers largely in the areas of pharmaceutical formulation and manufacturing. It will become part of Malvern's U.S. operations and continue to operate from a facility in Maryland. Malvern did not make details of the purchase public.

Inside Instrumentation is written by Celia H. Arnaud and Ann M. Thayer. Contact them via e-mail to instrumentation@acs.org.