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Press Release from Life TechnologiesMass Spec Analytical advances forensic science through the development of innovative technology Combined expertise leads to fast and sensitive detection methods for airport authorities, police and drug enforcement agencies Warrington, UK, 13.04.07 –Scientists from Mass Spec Analytical, Bristol, UK, a company specialising in trace analysis for forensic cases, have developed Scentinel®, a mobile, multi-purpose detection system that can rapidly identify compounds at sub-nanogram levels. The system will make it quicker and easier for forensic scientists to prove the existence of specific compounds on crime scene samples, providing more reliable evidence for casework studies and helping to solve more crimes. Scentinel is based on Applied Biosystems/MDS SCIEX’s highly sensitive tandem mass spectrometer, the API 2000™ system, and has been developed for the detection of trace amounts of drugs of abuse and other substances, including explosives. Simplification of the assays with the front-end ionisation sources and mass spectrometry systems from Applied Biosystems/MDS SCIEX has drastically reduced the risk of contamination, which is always a major problem in the analysis of minute amounts of any substance, including drugs of abuse. To date, Mass Spec Analytical has used the methodology to provide evidence for more than five thousand forensic cases, detecting tiny amounts of drugs or explosives on bank notes, vehicles, packages, clothing and paperwork, for customs, police and other similar agencies and, more recently, for analysing tickets and boarding passes at airports. Such is the sensitivity of the technology that it can successfully detect even the tiniest residual traces transferred to a boarding pass from the fingers of somebody who has handled explosives. The method is fast, analysing a thousand tickets an hour, and simple, providing instant yes/no results that do not require special expertise or complicated analysis. “The strength and breadth of our range of triple quadrupole mass spectrometer systems brings our technology closer to an increased area of applications,” said Lars Holmkvist, Applied Biosystems president for Europe. “We expect the work undertaken by Mass Spec Analytical and other pioneers in the area of biosecurity testing will lead to the creation of additional field-deployable MS devices targeted at the detection of very specific chemical or biological threats." Applied Biosystems/MDS SCIEX is the recognised leader worldwide in providing tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) technology ideally suited to trace detection. MS/MS has become the analytical method of choice in the pharmaceutical and environmental industries and is well established in the field of forensic analysis. Its greatest assets are excellent sensitivity and selectivity and real time analysis without sample preparation. For more information, please contact: abdirect@eur.appliedbiosystems.com © 2007 Applied Biosystems. All rights reserved. Applera Corporation is committed to providing the world’s leading technology and information for life scientists. Applera Corporation consists of the Applied Biosystems and Celera Genomics businesses. Applera Corporation undertakes no obligation to release publicly the results of any revisions to any forward-looking statement made or implied in this release, which may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Statements in this release should be evaluated accordingly. Applied Biosystems, Celera, Applera and AB (Design) are registered trademarks of Applera Corporation or its subsidiaries in the US and/or certain other countries. API 2000 is a trademark of Applied Biosystems/MDS SCIEX, a joint venture between Applera Corporation and MDS Inc.
Editorial contact for further information or follow-up: Tony Hardware, Communications and Public Relations Manager - Europe, Applied Biosystems
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