Introduction – Fall 2024 Newsletter

By: Kevin McKeown

Another summer has passed and we are VERY happy to be returning to your inboxes in this fall edition of the Pickering Labs Newsletter.  We have a little bit of everything to share, from a milestone 25th work anniversary to exciting new products!  Also included are a few articles on our Synthetic Blood (just in time for Halloween!) and an update on our Pinnacle instrument.

We start things off with a look at the Updated Blood Product Abstract.  This piece of literature has a few notable additions.  We have updated our product formulations to match the latest ASTM F1819-19 methods (1700-0720 and 1700-0729), and added two brand-new solutions that conform to ISO 16603.  Finally, we brought back a “fan favorite” in our 3.8 cSt blood, which has a viscosity close to actual human blood.

Next, we get a cool look at a customer’s testing practices in Synthetic Blood in Action.  Sameer Patel, of Detmold Group in Australia, has been kind enough to give us some action shots on how he’s using our Blood solutions in his lab!  Really fun stuff and a big thanks to Sameer. 

Saji George gives us some exciting Paralytic Shellfish Poisons (PSP) updates in the newest Reagent Bulletin for PSP Consumables.  These reagents and mobile phase buffers are vital for Paralytic Shellfish/PCOX testing and enable customers using an Onyx or Vector PCX to use trusted consumables to help them more quickly run this important testing method. 

What would any newsletter be without some mention of Past and Upcoming Shows!  From coast-to-coast, you can find us at tradeshows and scientific conferences, focusing both on our Post-Column and PTS (Artificial Body Fluids) products.  We have pictures from the first tradeshow that we’ve ever walked to, practically next door in our Mountain View neighborhood (Wearable Technologies) along with news on two upcoming shows in October: AATCC in Savannah, GA and the Harmful Algae Symposium in Portland, ME.

In our most exciting article of this newsletter, we are honored to celebrate our long-term employee, Severo Munoz, in Severo’s 25th Work Anniversary!  You would be forgiven if you thought Severo looks WAY too young to be celebrating this milestone, but we promise he really has been here for this long!  Severo is a vital part of the company, but most customers never get to meet him.  So, we’re excited to make introductions as we send our ‘cheers’ his way!  He’s helped us grow, particularly internationally, with his unparalleled expertise in Shipping.

Finally, we have a note about the eventual retirement of our Pinnacle instrument in Pinnacle Obsolescence.  There is no need to fear, as we’ll still be supporting this instrument until January 1, 2030.  As many have probably already found out, we have the next generation Onyx instrument as the replacement for our beloved Pinnacle.

Finally, don’t forget to enter your submission for our Chromatography Quiz!  Just as in the last edition, David has cooked up another fun Amino Acids Analysis challenge, but this time it’s all about a Rising Baseline.  Congratulations to our prior winners and best of luck to our new participants this quarter!