Microbiology and Life Science News

Microbiological testing of water is not just a regulatory requirement – it is a direct safeguard for public health. When a membrane filter produces a false negative, a contaminated water source can be cleared as safe. The consequences extend far beyond the laboratory. 

This Earth Day, one environmental issue demands urgent attention from the scientific and filtration communities: the global rise of PFAS contamination and the role our industry plays in addressing it.

Global plastic production now exceeds 460 million tons per year, and microplastics are now being detected everywhere from oceans to human tissue. In filtration and membrane science, this is not an abstract issue. It is something that is measured, tracked, and increasingly studied. As the research continues to develop tools to assess the impact on human health and the environment, it is reasonable to also examine what is happening on the materials side. 

Microplastics are everywhere. Scientists have found them in the deepest ocean trenches, in Arctic ice, in agricultural soils, in drinking water, and increasingly, inside the human body itself. Researchers have identified microplastic particles in human blood, liver tissue, and even brain samples. Yet despite their ubiquity, one fundamental question has remained stubbornly difficult to answer: what exactly happens to these particles once they enter a living organism?

What if the water flowing beneath our cities could tell us how healthy our communities really are?

Maintaining low particle counts is critical in the process of packaging pharmaceuticals, particularly for liquid products that must meet strict sterility and cleanliness requirements, as particulate contamination can be introduced from raw materials, processing equipment, tubing connections, and the surrounding environment. Without effective control, these particles can compromise product quality, process consistency, and regulatory compliance.  

Seattle’s biotechnology scene is making global headlines, producing three Nobel Prize winners in just two years — a reflection of the region’s growing influence in scientific innovation.  

Collecting and transporting biological samples in the field can be challenging. Traditional methods often require cold storage, centrifugation, and liquid handling; tools not always available in remote or harsh environments. Nobuto blood filter strips offer a simple, portable, and reliable solution for collecting, drying, and transporting blood or serum samples without a cold chain [1].

Soils associated with industrial operations such as landfills, manufacturing facilities, and the intensive use of agricultural chemicals can be prone to heavy metal accumulation.  Toxic heavy metals such as lead, arsenic, cadmium, and mercury can accumulate in soil, where they are absorbed by crops and plants. As a result, consumption of these crops inevitably leads to heavy metal exposure¹.

In biomedical research, extracellular vesicles (EVs)—especially exosomes—have become a key focus due to their role in intercellular communication. These nano-sized lipid-bilayer vesicles (30–150 nm), secreted by nearly all cell types, transport proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids, positioning them as valuable tools for diagnostics and therapeutics. However, their small size and low abundance in biological fluids make conventional methods for isolation and purification challenging.  Ultracentrifugation is labor-intensive, costly, and can damage exosome structure under high centrifugal forces, while precipitation and size-exclusion chromatography often produce low-purity samples contaminated with proteins and other non-exosomal particles.