Latest news with #laboratory
BBC News
22-05-2025
- Science
- BBC News
State-of-the-art building approved for Oxford Science Park
A state-of-the-art laboratory building will be built at Oxford Science Park after city councillors gave it the park secured planning permission for the four-storey building, which will be built close to the closed pub, The Priory, the Ozone Leisure Park and the Kassam Stadium, on development will include 168 car parking spaces, electric charging points and just over 100 bike Shen, the park's director, said the approval was "fantastic news" and will help it deliver more "world-class facilities in an established setting that promotes collaboration, sustainability and discovery". The new building will sit on currently undeveloped land between the science park and the neighbouring cinema and bowling rink will not involve any part of the Ozone Leisure Park, which is itself the subject of a different plan that could lead to its redevelopment. You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
Fast Company
16-05-2025
- Business
- Fast Company
From lab to market: Monetizing R&D
It's one thing to invent something cool within controlled laboratory environments. It's entirely another to scale that new baby for sale. The tension between innovation and commercialization is something we regularly wrestle with at Abstrax. Every morning, we don lab coats and ask the same question: 'How do you make money from research done in a lab?' Balance innovation with commercial reality Discovery for its own sake isn't enough. Many R&D-heavy companies discover that brilliant ideas can languish for years if they don't have a system for bringing them to market. We decided early on to build that bridge proactively. This meant investing heavily not just in research, but in the systems and machinery that connect lab work to real-world products. Our scientists don't concoct in ivory towers, they work hand-in-hand with product developers to ensure (most) experiments align with market needs. This pragmatic approach focuses our curiosity. We poured resources into advanced analytical technology. Among other exquisite toys, we operate an ultra-sensitive aroma analysis platform nicknamed OMNI. With it, we can break down a complex flavor into hundreds of molecular components and pinpoint the ones that matter. By capturing a '3D metabolite fingerprint' of a material (cannabis flower, hop varietals, etc.), we get a complete map of that sample's aroma chemistry. Why go to these extremes? Because understanding a flavor at that granular level is the key to replicating it, enhancing it, and ultimately monetizing it. We can identify over 500 distinct compounds in a single hop strain. That level of resolution lets us see opportunities others might miss, like the trace molecules that round out pineapple, or a sulfur compound responsible for 'skunky' notes. From breakthrough to beer glass To illustrate how lab research turns into revenue, take our recent work with Citra, one of the most celebrated hops in craft brewing. Citra's appeal lies in its remarkably juicy, complex flavor—think grapefruit, lime, peach, and passionfruit steamrolled into one. This tropical medley makes a Citra-hopped beer delicious. But here's the rub: Achieving that same flavor consistently at scale is hard. Hops are agricultural products, subject to the whims of weather and yearly variation. The Citra you get this year might not taste exactly like last year's crop. This is where our lab-to-market philosophy shines. Using OMNI, we profiled Citra's chemical makeup in exquisite detail. Armed with that 'blueprint,' we developed an Omni Hop Profile extract that mirrors Citra's flavor profile with uncanny accuracy. For brewers, this is a game-changer. Instead of being at the mercy of Mother Nature, they can rely on our Citra extract to deliver the exact same flavor in every batch, forever. And because it's made from botanically derived ingredients, it stays true to the clean-label standards brewers abide by. We even worked with veteran brewmasters on pilot brews to fine-tune the extract's performance in different beer styles. By the time our Citra profile hit the market, it was brewer-tested and production-ready. Our Citra victory highlights our core principle of reasonable innovation. We didn't stop at discovering what makes that hop special, we pushed to make it a tangible solution to a real problem. That is the essence of monetizing R&D: moving from 'Eureka!' to a viable SKU. No fluff, only real solutions In avant-garde industries like cannabis and craft beer, it's easy to get caught up in hype and bold claims. We prefer a different tack: Let the results speak. If we say our new formulation improves a beer's shelf-life or an extract boosts an IPA's aroma, we've got the data to back it up. Grounding innovation in evidence keeps us credible and ensures we stay focused on real market value. We also recognize that not every experiment will pan out, and that's okay. Part of our system is knowing never to become 100% pot committed. We'll test 10 ideas, then swiftly double down on the one or two that show commercial promise. By failing fast and smart, we conserve resources for the innovations that count. The new R&D playbook Our journey from lab to market hasn't been quick or easy. It took patience and a willingness to invest up front. But that patience is paying off. Today, Abstrax's approach is turning niche scientific insights into mainstream products. What others consider to be a cost center is our engine for growth. When scientists and strategists work in sync, every discovery is viewed through the lens of real-world impact. The healthy tension between invention and commercialization keeps us sharp. As it turns out, the lab and the market are pretty good at balancing each other.
Associated Press
08-05-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
My Green Lab Launches ACT Ecolabel 2.0: Setting the Global Standard for Sustainable Laboratory Products
SAN DIEGO, May 8, 2025 /3BL/ - My Green Lab® today proudly launches the ACT Ecolabel 2.0 program, an enhanced version of the only third-party verified ecolabel for laboratory products. Designed to advance Accountability, Consistency, and Transparency for the scientific industry, ACT Ecolabel 2.0 offers product-level data to support sustainability-driven purchasing decisions. Building on years of collaboration with scientists, manufacturers, procurement professionals, and sustainability experts, ACT Ecolabel 2.0 delivers a rigorous, standardized framework for assessing and communicating the environmental impact of laboratory products. 'ACT Ecolabel 2.0 represents the collective expertise behind the program and reflects our deep commitment to advancing sustainability in science through credible, actionable data,' said James Connelly, My Green Lab's CEO. 'The enhanced program is transforming how the scientific community approaches sustainability in the lab supply chain, through embedding impact reductions into purchasing decisions, product development, and long-term corporate strategies.' As sustainability becomes a critical priority for laboratory operations, procurement representatives, and product manufacturers, the ACT Ecolabel delivers a unified framework that supports better decision-making across the supply chain. It enables manufacturers to credibly showcase sustainability performance and empowers procurement teams to make informed, sustainability-aligned purchasing decisions with confidence. Jennifer Valsler, Director, Sustainable Procurement, AstraZeneca, says, 'The My Green Lab ACT Ecolabel 2.0 aligns with AstraZeneca's corporate sustainability goals, while providing a consistent benchmark to evaluate products for purchasing decision making. Participation from manufacturers will strengthen their response for sustainability requests, and a consistent third-party verified industry standard will spur innovation and drive supply chain impact reductions.' The market has responded enthusiastically: 26 leading manufacturers have already committed to ACT Ecolabel 2.0 certification of their products, joining the 46 already participating, signaling the growing importance of a trusted standard like ACT Ecolabel for environmental accountability in life sciences. The upgraded ACT Ecolabel program introduces a range of enhancements, including: The ACT Ecolabel offers meaningful benefits to both manufacturers and procurement teams to support sustainable product development and smarter purchasing decisions. With more than 1,700 certified products from over 60 participating manufacturers in the ACT Ecolabel database, the program has become a central resource for the growing global community focused on sustainability in laboratory operations. Explore the comprehensive certified product database and discover how the ACT Ecolabel can support and accelerate your organization's sustainability goals. Visit About My Green Lab My Green Lab® is a nonprofit environmental organization with a mission to build a global culture of sustainability in science. The organization is the world leader in developing internationally recognized sustainability standards for laboratories and laboratory products—bringing sustainability to the community responsible for the world's life-changing medical and technical innovations. Laboratories are some of the most resource-intensive spaces in any industry, but they don't have to be. By introducing a new perspective and proven best practices within a carefully crafted framework, My Green Lab has inspired tens of thousands of scientists and lab professionals to make positive changes in their labs by reducing the environmental impact of their work. My Green Lab® ACT® Ecolabel The first ecolabel for lab equipment and supplies that provides transparent, third-party verified data to help scientists and procurement teams make sustainable choices. Sixty companies and over 1,700 products currently have an ACT Ecolabel, with third-party verification provided by Verico. For media requests, contact Christina Creager at [email protected]. For more information about My Green Lab, visit Visit 3BL Media to see more multimedia and stories from My Green Lab
