Pittcon is the premier annual conference and exposition on laboratory science. The event typically brings in more than 12,000 laboratory scientists and chemists from over 20 countries. Before the conference began on Sunday, March 1, there were many questions about how coronavirus concerns would impact both attendee and exhibitor presence. The official 2020 numbers are not available yet, but based on my observations, the epidemic did not cause a drastic decline in attendance. There was a noticeable decrease in international scientists, specifically Asian-based researchers, but not much beyond that. Instead of instruments and consumables, about 15 to 20 exhibitor booths were instead occupied by a sign that said “Company is absent due to travel restrictions”—but again, almost every single one was based in China.
If the conference was scheduled a month later, even a week later, I suspect we would not have been so lucky. Alas, one of the most exciting events for laboratory scientists did indeed take place last week—and here is what I saw there.
1. Simplified Maintenance
The need for laboratory equipment and instrumentation to run smoothly and correctly is critical. In some industries, like pharmaceutical, guidelines demand precise engineering and calibration. Whether it’s routine or problem-based, laboratories rely on instrument manufacturers to dictate the maintenance schedule. While this itself is not new, manufacturers have been striving in recent years to make maintenance as user-friendly as everything else in the lab—that means reminding lab managers to make an appointment, having an instrument alert a sales rep, running diagnostics overnight, etc.
Through its goal of bringing “Analytical Intelligence” to its instruments, Shimadzu Scientific has further improved its ClickTek tool-free maintenance system. ClickTek on the Nexis GC-2030 helps users install liners and columns. It was recently improved to standardize the fixed length of the ferrule on the column, which in the past needed to be changed based on the detector being used. Now, there is one single length for all detectors.
“Scientists have always valued low-maintenance,” said Dan McDougall, Sales Manager, Laboratory Products Division at KNF Neuberger, Inc, which showed its new FP 150 low-pulsation liquid diaphragm pump at Pittcon. “A decrease in maintenance results in an increase in instrument up-time. Any time a scientist spends doing maintenance is time they are not doing science.”
2. Protein Characterization
Pittcon’s roots and heritage are spectroscopy-based, so the show is always a boon for MS technologies—and 2020 was no different. The need to detect more and smaller quantities has pushed laboratory equipment manufacturers to offer instruments with improved sensitivity that can analyze proteins and peptides.
Researchers at the RIKEN-JEOL Collaboration Center with Kyoto University approached the protein problem from a multi-instrument perspective. They recently pioneered an analysis method that combines solid-state NMR crystallography and electron diffraction to solve small protein crystal structures that have never been seen before.
“The results of this research have shown the importance of accurately determining both the structure, with electron diffraction, and the hydrogen positions, done with NMR,” said Tom Isabell, President of JEOL. “Both of these are expected to contribute to improvement in small-molecule drugs to treat conditions such as stomach acid issues and other lifestyle-related diseases and hay fever. They may contribute in the future to QA in pharmaceuticals and lead to the discovery of more unknown drugs.”
Meanwhile, Shimadzu debuted a first-of-its-kind digital ion trap that can detect a mass range from 600 to 7,000 um. The MALDImini-1 enables researchers to easily perform detailed structural analysis of biomolecules, especially glycopeptides, gylcans and post-translational modifications.
3. Manufacturer Partnerships
All scientists know collaboration is key in the lab; and the same is true for instrumentation manufacturers. Over the years, many manufacturers have entered into fruitful, long-lasting relationships that benefit not only the companies involved, but their laboratory customers, as well.
For example, Metrohm and Agilent have collaborated for years to ensure Metrohm’s systems are compatible with Agilent’s popular OpenLab CDS (chromatography data systems) software. Agilent’s newest generation of OpenLab CDS combines chromatography and mass spectrometry into one data system, providing an ideal solution for IC-MS applications. Users can expand the scope of Metrohm ion chromatography by coupling it with an Agilent single quadrupole mass spectrometer to achieve increased sensitivity and selectivity.
At Pittcon 2020, JEOL executives announced their partnership with Think20 Labs, an analytical testing laboratory for hemp and cannabis. Think20 Labs, which is accredited and DEA-registered, is committed to challenging the way a laboratory understands the importance of cannabis in an open and collaborative environment. They approached JEOL last year in that vein.
“They had been running samples on everything except a GC triple quad, they were using LC and having trouble,” said John Dare, MS Applications Chemist at JEOL. “The GC triple quad is a perfect option, so they were excited about adding that to their lab. We entered into a collaborative agreement to start testing the JEOL TQ40000 GC solution. We delivered a system last month, and we are going to use their expertise regarding sample prep to look at what’s possible.”