Best of the Week: EAS 2024 Awardees, Oligonucleotides in Drug Development, and More

This week, LCGC International published a variety of articles on trending topics in separation science. Below, we’ve highlighted some of the most popular articles, according to our readers. Happy reading!

2024 EAS Awardees Showcase Innovative Research in Analytical Science

Caroline Hroncich

Every year at the Eastern Analytical Symposium (EAS), scientists with various types of analytical chemistry educations are honored for their contributions towards furthering the industry as a whole. This year, at EAS 2024, located at the Crowne Plaza Princeton Conference Center in Plainsboro, New Jersey, awardees were able to present their work, with three scientists showcasing advancements in separation science techniques. Ariel Furst of MIT, who received the 2024 EAS Young Investigator, presented her work on bio-inspired technologies for human and environmental health monitoring. The ceremony also featured Nelu Grinberg, the winner of the 2024 EAS Award for Outstanding Achievements in Separation Science, and Benjamin Garcia of the University of Washington School of Medicine, who was honored with the 2024 EAS Award for Outstanding Achievements in Mass Spectrometry (MS).

Inside the Laboratory: The Richardson Group at the University of South Carolina

Will Wetzel

Disinfection byproducts (DBPs) are chemical compounds formed when disinfectants used in water treatment, such as chlorine, react with organic and inorganic matter naturally present in the water. These by-products, which include trihalomethanes (THMs), haloacetic acids (HAAs), chlorite, and bromate, are of significant concern because of their potential adverse effects on human health. Understanding and mitigating DBPs is crucial for maintaining safe drinking water and protecting public health. In this edition of “Inside the Laboratory,” we talked with Susan Richardson of the University of South Carolina about her laboratory’s work with using electron ionization and chemical ionization with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) to detect DBPs in complex environmental matrices, and how her work advances environmental analysis.

Critical Role of Oligonucleotides in Drug Development Highlighted at EAS Session

Caroline Hroncich

Oligonucleotides are short DNA or RNA molecules, either single- or double-stranded, that can be used to modulate gene and protein expression, all while accumulating in various tissues after administration (1). These substances are gaining traction as powerful therapeutic agents in biopharma, showing potential in treating genetic disorders, cancers, and viral infections. At EAS 2024, an afternoon session focused on the growing role of oligonucleotides in pharmaceutical analysis. Led by Yi He of John Jay College of Criminal Justice, the session included scientists from Resolian, Frontage Laboratories, Genentech, and more.

RAFA 2024 Highlights: Contemporary Food Contamination Analysis Using Chromatography

Alasdair Matheson

This year at the 11th International Symposium on Recent Advances in Food Analysis, which was held November 5­–8, 2024 in Prague, Czech Republic, a series of lectures were held that focused on emerging analytical techniques being used to analyze food contamination. Starting with Stefan Van Leeuwen of Wageningen Food Safety Research (WFSR), his lecture highlighted the critical need to address per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination. Further workshops included Cassandra Jeanot of ONIRIS describing a novel approach to broaden PFAS detection in food, focusing on chronic exposure from food sources such as eggs and fish, and Xanthippi Theurillat of Nestlé Research Lausanne discussing his company’s multi-faceted approach for complying with European PFAS regulations in food products.

LC-HRMS Technology Used to Track Chemical Migration in Reusable Plastic Bottles

John Chasse

Global demand for reusable food packaging has increased, mostly due to increasing support of efficiently using natural resources. The market for reusable plastic beverage containers has grown, resulting in the development of products that are more durable for everyday use, as well as wide variety of plastic materials, as food contact materials (FCMs) are produced from different monomers and co-monomers. These monomers undergo chemical processes involving the addition of various intentionally added substances (IAS) to form polymers. Chemicals can migrate not only from the polymers themselves, but also from packaging components, such as inks, sealants, and coatings, which contribute to the complexity of substances migrating into food. To address chemical migration, scientists from the University of Copenhagen developed a broad screening strategy using evaporation enrichment and liquid chromatography high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) to evaluate migration of non-volatile chemicals from various reusable plastic bottles. developed a broad screening strategy using evaporation enrichment and liquid chromatography high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) to evaluate migration of non-volatile chemicals from various reusable plastic bottles.