Success Stories.
ALSSA members develop and market products and technologies used to conduct research, testing, discovery and product development in a wide range of industries, healthcare, academic and government facilities and applications including:
- Pharmaceuticals and Drug Discovery
- Biotechnology
- Chemicals and Chemical Processing
- Food Safety and Testing
- Medical and Life Science Research
- University and Academic Scientific Research
- Forensics
- Molecular Diagnostic Testing
- Environmental Testing
Some recent and innovative uses of ALSSA members' products and technologies include the following:
Technologies to Detect Swine Flu Virus ALSSA members have developed Influenza A/H1N1 tests and solutions for the global surveillance of the "swine flu" pandemic. One member has recently developed a new kit that enables both the highly sensitive and specific detection of the novel Influenza A/H1N1, the virus that causes "swine flu", as well as of all other known Influenza A and B virus strains. It has been designed for use by governments and public health institutions as part of the efforts to identify and control outbreaks of pandemic A/H1N1 Influenza.
The new test and other existing solutions to support Tamiflu/Oseltamivir resistance testing offer healthcare professionals powerful tools not only to quickly and reliably detect the origin of flu-like symptoms in patients, but also to profile the pathogen and thus to rapidly take the necessary actions to control an outbreak.
Technologies for Individual Genome Sequencing An ALSSA member has delivered an individual genome sequence that was completed in the ALSSA member's CLIA-certified and College of American Pathologists (CAP) accredited laboratory using its Genome Analyzer technology. Over 110 billion base calls were generated, delivering over 30X coverage of the genome. Data analysis showed 300K novel SNPs [single nucleotide polymorphism, a variation at a single site in DNA that is the most frequent type of variation in the genome] in the genome that have not been documented elsewhere.
ALSSA members’ technologies promote a future where genome sequencing will become a routine practice and the information generated will enable physicians to make better healthcare decisions for the individual.
Technologies to Promote Food Safety The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition uses UPLC (UltraPerformance Liquid Chromatography) technology systems supplied by an ALSSA member to monitor domestically-produced and imported food sold in interstate commerce. The instruments are used for developing and validating robust and reproducible methods for testing food additives, pesticide residues, dietary supplements, mycotoxins, vitamins, seafood toxins, industrial chemicals, and regulated food and cosmetic products.
The FDA's Office of Regulatory Science develops liquid chromatography (LC) and liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) based methods for analyzing foods and shares their expertise with other FDA laboratories. The methods are essential for carrying out many agency duties including pre-market approval of new food additives, risk assessment and setting of priorities, coordinated enforcement and compliance with pesticide tolerances set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), surveillance, and outbreak response.
