Is counterfeit medicine in that opaque capsule? Is there an explosive inside that plastic bag? Is there a non-invasive diagnostic method for bone disease? All three applications can benefit from a novel spectroscopy method: spatially Offset Raman Spectroscopy. The method is a development between Pfizer researchers and the UK's Rutherford Appleton Laboratory.

Protein changes the actions of water around it. But the way a protein is folded changes how water molecules move. Researchers used terahertz (THz) spectroscopy to explore how proteins modify water's movements. A folded protein affects up to 1000 water molecules in its environment, partly-folded proteins affect far fewer.

MRI machines are huge and expensive, but a tiny, sensitive sensor does the same job on a micro-scale. A super-sensitive mini-sensor detects nuclear magnetic resonance in fluid samples flowing through a novel microchip. The technique has potential for chemical sensing in medical and industrial applications. How would you use this tool?

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We live in three dimensions, but most technology presents images in only two. A 3D microscope based on Fresnel incoherent correlation holography appears in the March issue of Nature Photonics. This holography technique could be applied in endoscopy, ophthalmology, CT scanning, X-ray imaging and ultrasounds, and other types of imaging.

Fatty acid composition produced after an animal's death depends on factors including temperature, burial conditions, and the materials around the body. Testing the composition requires subjecting it to gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. A new extraction method, called rapid solid-phase extraction (SPE), produces fatty acids ready for analysis.

Fresh from Pittcon is a portable gas chromatograph with a fully programmable column oven. It moves the lab to the field, and can be configured for a variety of detectors. Portable chromatography can be used in environmental, petrochemical, biochemical, medical, forensic, law enforcement, and industrial process quality control applications.

A basic assumption of spectroscopy is that each substance has a distinctive spectrum, but what if that isn't true? A Stanford researcher's work on 'quantum drums' suggests that more than one substance can provide the same set of vibrations. The work has implications for fields in addition to spectroscopy. See a movie of the drums (mov format).

Move over, lab rats: your job is being replaced — or maybe just refined — by cultured human cells. The National Institutes of Health and Environmental Protection Agency intend to test tens of thousands of chemicals for toxic effects using cultured human cells. The ultimate goal is to provide more human-health-specific results.

Far-Flung: The Mars Rovers

The Mars Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, are going into their fifth year of exploration — well past their hoped-for lifetime of three months. The Rovers are fitted with multiple spectrometers, panoramic cameras, and microscopes. Recent results suggest that the acidity and salinity on the surface work against chances of life developing on the Red Planet. The Mars Science Laboratory rover will add more analysis capability this spring.

Join a Conversation About This Month's Topic...

Time to Retire the Lab Rats?

We can discontinue animal toxicology tests if in-vitro experiments work as well. But do they? Do you trust today's biotechnology enough to retire animal testing or should we continue both for a period of time?