Product Review in 1987

Designer proteins, accelerated syntheses, and better purification procedures are some of the potential benefits of a melding of the best of antibodies and catalysts.

Recombinant DNA is the topic for this week, with products of use to every DNA researcher, including kits for cloning, tools for electro-phoresis, and off-the-shelf synthetic genes.

Tools for a wide variety of microscopical techniques are described this week, including a high-power SEM, a laser scanning microscope, and image processing systems to suit a range of applications.

Scanning confocal optical microscopy offers increased resolution and superior rejection of out-of-focus signals for epifluorescence imaging of biological material.

The development of immunoassays for ras and myc proteins allows rapid and sensitive quantitation of oncoprotein expression in normal and transformed cells.

Next week, scientists will converge upon Ljubljana, Yugoslavia for the FEES convention, and The Hague, the Netherlands for the XIII International Congress of Clinical Chemistry.

As an accompaniment to this week's special feature on Science in Israel, the spotlight falls on a collection of Israeli diagnostics, drugs, research reagents, and medical products.

Perfusion bioreactors offer a culture environment similar to in vivo conditions for mammalian cells, have already gained commercial importance.

Next week, exhibitors from all over Europe will converge on Amsterdam, the Netherlands, for the 4th European Congress on Biotechnology, ready to show off their bioreactors, chromatographs, and products for molecular biology.

Supercritical fluid chromatography is opening up new avenues in the analysis of high molecular weight, polar and thermally labile biochemicals.

Next week's meeting of the American Society of Biological Chemists in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, will have over 200 exhibits. Here we preview some of the products on view.

Tissue culturists of every type and description will be in Washington, D. C. for next week's US Tissue Culture Association meeting on 27–30 May. Below are some of the products they will see on a stroll through the exhibit hall.

Probing for electron microscopy and microanalysis requires samples with undamaged ultrastructure. A new technique for nondestructive freezing has been developed for better sample preparation.

From specialized wordprocessing to data crunching, laboratories have complex computer needs. Here is an example of software products on show at the Scientific Computing and Automation Conference, 13–15 May, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Advances in computers permit scientific documentation systems to link with research data bases. Such 'intelligent' scientific documentation gives access to the data and computing resources behind the results.

The curtain lifts this week on tapes to teach immunoassays, and a cast of labelling reagents plus the instruments to detect them.

The enormous utility of labelled nucleic acid probes has encouraged the development, over the past decade, of many efficient and reliable labelling methods.