LGC

Honouring the 80th anniversary of D-Day

Today commemorates D-Day, the Normandy landings and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944, which initiated the Allied invasion of Normandy during World War II. This pivotal operation began the liberation of France, and the rest of Western Europe, laying the foundations of the Allied victory on the Western Front.

At LGC, we honour the bravery and sacrifice of those who fought by working to identify the bodies of soldiers from World War I and II through DNA analysis. Our efforts help families find answers about their ancestors and relatives, bringing closure and recognition to their enduring legacy.

Click the link below to read about the latest work we are doing to identify the remains of soldiers:

https://ow.ly/HQCZ50SaA0b

Two of our colleagues were honoured to attend the 107th anniversary of the Battle of Fromelles commemoration in Fromelles last month., New headstones were unveiled to mark the final resting places of the seven fallen Australian WW1 soldiers whose remains were identified this year via DNA analysis performed by our team at UK National Measurement Laboratory at LGC. (bit.ly/3sp3tPD)

We've been involved in this project since 2008, when the remains of 250 fallen Australian soldiers were discovered, and since then, we're proud to have helped identify 173 soldiers.

Thank you Matthew Nickless and Will Webster for attending and representing us. Read more about this story here: http://bit.ly/3PanSRh

Exciting to see the Food Authenticity Network team have launched a new research tool to support reliable supply chains and help in the fight against food fraud! 👏 We're proud to support this valuable network and resilience in the food system!

This new open access tool bridges the gap for those in the food industry to seamlessly find information about specific food items, like produce, spices, and meat, and analytical techniques by collating information on known databases of commodities, to assist in classifying authentic and fraudulent food products.​
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Browse the new tool here: https://bit.ly/3OnvAqI

Authenticity databases - FoodAuthenticity document library food authenticity databases

This week, we've appointed Dr Mehrdad Tabrizi as our new Executive Vice President & General Manager for LGC Axolabs. We're delighted to welcome Mehrdad to LGC at this exciting time for our LGC Axolabs Business Unit as it enters an important new chapter as a world-leading service provider to producers of oligonucleotide therapeutics.

Further information about Mehrdad's appointment can be found here https://bit.ly/43nJihC

Mehrdad Tabrizi appointed Executive Vice President & General Manager, LGC Axolabs Mehrdad Tabrizi appointed Executive Vice President & General Manager, LGC Axolabs LGC today announced the appointment of Dr Mehrdad Tabrizi as Executive Vice President and General Manager for LGC Axolabs. Prior to joining LGC, Mehrdad gained extensive international senior leadership experience in va...

Today marks the start of Pride Month! We want to wish a great Pride Month to all our colleagues around the world, and to everyone else who will celebrate, protest and show solidarity during this month. We also looking forward to celebrating our own Pride Day later this month on 28 June.

We’re delighted to congratulate our LGC Axolabs team for winning the first of LGC’s ‘President and CEO’ Awards, where we celebrate the work of teams across the company for outstanding work! LGC Axolabs have won due to their contribution to LGC’s growth, science and people priorities over the past three years.

Euan O'Sullivan, CEO, said “I have been hugely impressed by Axolabs’ high performance in key areas. For example, Axolabs has successfully recruited and trained many new colleagues to enable our ambitious strategic growth. They’ve been agile and scalable too, as well as innovative, by evolving our chemistry capability to even more complex molecular forms.”

Congratulations to all involved for their hard work!

We are delighted to share that last month, over 200 electronic items were collected from our Teddington, UK site, including old laptops, monitors, display cables, docking stations and keyboards, to support the brilliant work of Camara Education.

Old and unused IT equipment is collected from us, securely processed and then re-marketed or recycled. The funds raised from this process are then used to support education in schools across Africa.

In partnership with local educational authorities, Camara prepare new or re-purposed equipment, install software, train local teachers and work closely with the schools to maintain the equipment. We're excited to support this fantastic initiative.

For further details see Camara Education's website here: https://camara.org/

Home - Camara Education Transforming Life Chances in Africa with Technology Camara Has Given Computer Access to Over4.4 Million Children Camara Education is a charity that provides computers, teacher training and innovative learning programmes to schools across Africa. We exist because we believe the world would be a bette...

Last week, the The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research announced a breakthrough in Parkinson's research, after discovery of a PD biomarker. This news centres on the detection of abnormal alpha-synuclein proteins within a patient's spinal fluid. The protein is normally found in the nervous system, but it can start to misfold and clump, damaging neurons.

Well done to all involved on this extremely vital research, which shows promise of improving the lives of millions living with PD! We're incredibly proud to have been selected by the foundation to provide vital cell lines to a range of organisations working on Parkinson's Disease through our ATCC partnership, specifically around mutations in the leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) gene.

Read the full story on the MJFF website here: https://lnkd.in/dVVTx_HB

LGC in partnership with ATCC

Breaking News: Parkinson's Disease Biomarker Found New biomarker can reveal key pathology of Parkinson's disease and is a significant milestone in the search for a cure for Parkinson's disease.

Five more soldiers who fell at the Battle of Fromelles more than 100 years ago have been identified, using DNA analysis carried out by our specialist DNA team.

Victoria Moore, leading the effort of the LGC team, said, “It is an honour to continue working with the Uncovered War Casualties – Army, Australia, using our scientific expertise and knowledge in assisting with these five new identifications. Each person has a unique story and for these five, their families and descendants finally now have the answer to which many have asked and have spent over a century waiting to hear - knowing where their final resting place is."

This news coincides with Anzac Day, a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand that broadly commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations and the contribution and suffering of all those who have served.

Read the full story on our site here: https://lnkd.in/dDxxAxUy

@[UK National Measurement Laboratory (NML) at LGC](urn:li:organization:18920330)

DNA identifies five more Australian World War I soldiers DNA identifies five more Australian World War I soldiers Five more soldiers who fell at the Battle of Fromelles more than 100 years ago have been identified using DNA analysis performed by LGC. After unmarked graves were discovered at Pheasant Wood in 2008 containing the remains of 250 World War I s...

In this webinar, the Head of Reagent Development at LEX Diagnostics discusses how his team used RapiDxFire Lyo-Flex to develop an inhibitor-tolerant RT-PCR reagent mix that supports rapid amplification of four different targets at thermocycling speeds significantly faster than the norm. Check it out here: https://hubs.li/Q01JhF4b0

Tracking microbes in extreme environments Microbial ecologist Gerdhard Jessen studies how climate change might affect microorganisms in deserts, hot springs and hydrothermal vents.

Well done to our colleagues at our Bellshill site for successfully trialling a switch from polystyrene to paper shred! Recently, the LGC Biosearch Technologies team, based in Scotland, decided to explore using recycled shredded paper as an alternative to traditional packing peanuts.

Following a successful trial to ensure the switch did not impact product safety and quality, the team are now in the process of making the full switch to paper shred. This will reduce the use of, on average, 15 large bags of packing peanuts a year.

Our supplier sources all the paper from the UK and it is made from 100% recycled content and is also 100% recyclable, after use. The shipments are also sent in fully recyclable cardboard boxes.

Working with procurement, teams at other UK sites are now also exploring ​this solution, with the aim to scale up our use of this sustainable packing material.

Find out more about ESG at LGC here: https://bit.ly/3B1uDOS

www.lgcgroup.com

WE'RE HIRING in the US! From lab operations to HR to business development, we're looking for curious and collaborative people to join our team! If you're searching for a new role and want to contribute to our mission of Science for a Safer World, search vacancies and apply here ➡️ https://bit.ly/3AKiVb0

LGC Careers: Career Site – All Jobs

"It took more than 2,500 years, but an ignoble fungus called the rye ergot finally had its day in 1993, when the antimigraine drug sumatriptan first went on sale...

"Over the millennia, rye ergot had acquired an appalling reputation, [but eventually,] midwives and doctors began to appreciate that the fungus – also known as claviceps purpurea - could be used to relieve suffering as well as inflict it."

From medieval hallucinogen to modern day treatment for migraines, read this blog from LGC Standards about triptans: https://bit.ly/3AFUyLz

Pharmaceutical Roots: Triptans | LGC Standards Biosafety classification is based on U.S. Public Health Service Guidelines, it is the responsibility of the customer to ensure that they fully comply with all applicable biosafety and biomaterial regulations in their country. {{entry.product.biosafetyLevel == -1 ? '-' : entry.product.biosafetyLevel}...

Genetic solutions to infectious diseases in aquaculture The final part of this blog series discusses genomic technologies that can help advance disease resistance in aquaculture species and details practical examples of how these tools are used.

Well done to our team in Tipperary for finding new ways to work sustainably! This year, the team trialed switching from passive cold chain shipping to active cold chain shipping, by using a refrigerated lorry for transport.

In order to transport many of our products, some teams use passive cold chain systems, which typically includes insulated packaging with ice packs or dry ice. These are critical for ensuring the quality and safety of our products; however it can have a negative environmental impact.

As a result of the trial, a shipment to one of our customers has avoided the use of 54 transportation shipping boxes and 1,628 cool packs, which also reduces the carbon footprint of the transport. This is being trialed for other customer deliveries going forward. We hope this inspires more people going forward to think outside the box and try new ways of working.

Read more about our ESG efforts and policies here: https://bit.ly/3OLtQoS

Environmental, social and governance LGC’s reputation has been built on our commitment to using science for a safer world and our corporate social responsibility is part of a bigger system.

Researchers in California published a study where they illustrated how CRISPR-Cas13d can be used to enhance therapeutic effects of small molecule drugs against coronaviruses like SARS-CoV-2. We're pleased our LGC Biosearch Technologies products help scientists perform vital research for healthcare outcomes.

Read the full study here: https://lnkd.in/eafw654S

Broad-spectrum CRISPR-mediated inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 variants and endemic coronaviruses in vitro - Nature Communications A major challenge in coronavirus vaccination and treatment is to counteract rapid viral evolution and mutations. Here the authors show that CRISPR-Cas13d can be used as a broad-spectrum antiviral to inhibit human coronaviruses, including new SARS-CoV-2 variants, combined with small molecule drugs fo...

Happy Earth Day! We’re excited to see growing support for environmental protections and sustainability practices, and we’re particularly excited to see our teams taking up sustainable practices so enthusiastically.

Recently, four of our sites participated in the Together for Sustainability initiative, being audited on several categories including Environment, Labour and Human Rights, Health and Safety and more. All four sites passed and have proposed actions for the forthcoming year to continue the progress.

Well done and thank you to all of our colleagues involved for their enthusiasm and support!

As Easter approaches, shoppers are picking out their favourite chocolates and sweets. But as we've seen from recent weeks, salmonella contamination in cocoa products is still a threat to food safety. And chocolate should always be a treat, and never an ordeal.

Read more about how salmonella occurs in chocolate and how proficiency testing for salmonella in chocolate supports safe eating: https://bit.ly/3M3M7w5

Testing Salmonella in chocolate | LGC Standards Biosafety classification is based on U.S. Public Health Service Guidelines, it is the responsibility of the customer to ensure that they fully comply with all applicable biosafety and biomaterial regulations in their country. {{entry.product.biosafetyLevel}} {{entry.product.euTariffCode}}

Maize is one of the most abundantly produced grains in the world, grown on every continent apart from Antarctica. With over 50 species, it is a staple food for more than 1 billion people around the world. Disease, like tar spot complex (TSC), can cause over 50% yield loss of maize crops, threatening the food supply for many communities around the world.

Researchers in Mexico and China used our KASP technology to genotype and identify plants with resistance to TSC for breeding resilient maize, published here 👉 https://bit.ly/3tsgk0k

We're excited to see our technology enabling such important work! LGC, Biosearch Technologies

Identification and fine mapping of a major QTL (qRtsc8-1) conferring resistance to maize tar spot complex and validation of production markers in breeding lines - Theoretical and Applied Genetics Key message A major QTL of qRtsc8-1 conferring TSC resistance was identified and fine mapped to a 721 kb region on chromosome 8 at 81 Mb, and production markers were validated in breeding lines. Abstract Tar spot complex (TSC) is a major foliar disease of maize in many Central and Latin American cou...