Brookhaven National Laboratory Selects the CEM Odyssey System for SARS Research
CEM Corporation, the leading solutions provider for microwave-based life science research applications, is pleased to announce that Brookhaven National Laboratory has selected the Company’s new Odyssey(TM) Microwave Peptide Synthesizer for use in research on the SARS virus. Peptides are the building blocks for proteins and are widely used in drug discovery research for the study of disease etiology, and increasingly as drug candidates themselves. The Odyssey System can produce peptides up to 10 times faster than conventional methods and significantly reduces the amount of hazardous waste generated in making peptides.
Brookhaven biologist Dr. Walter Mangel secured funding for the instrument through the laboratory’s Pollution Prevention Program as a safer, more effective means of peptide production. The laboratory estimates that the Odyssey will save $26,000 per year by reducing labor and material costs, as well as disposal expenditures for hazardous waste.
“Previously, making a peptide would take from 28 to 40 days. Now we can make peptides in less than a day. Our work is now less costly and more efficient,” said Dr. Mangel in a press release issued by Brookhaven National Laboratory on Monday.
“Significant advances in biological research are being made at Brookhaven,” said Michael J. Collins, President and CEO of CEM Corporation, “and we are very excited that Odyssey will be able to contribute to that research.”
The Odyssey Microwave Peptide Synthesizer is smaller and faster than conventional methods and produces peptides of greater purity with higher yields. The system’s unique utilization of microwave energy gives biochemists the unprecedented ability to synthesize peptides that were previously inaccessible by conventional synthetic methods. Odyssey is a winner of the prestigious 2004 R&D 100 Award.
The full press release from Brookhaven National Laboratory may be accessed at http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/pubaf/pr/2004/bnlpr082304.htm .
About CEM
CEM Corporation, a private company based in Matthews, North Carolina, is a leading provider of microwave laboratory instrumentation. The Company has subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and France, as well as a global network of distributors. CEM designs and manufactures systems for life sciences, analytical laboratories and processing plants worldwide. The Company’s products are used in many industries including pharmaceutical, biotech, chemical and food processing, as well as academic research. www.cem.com
About Brookhaven
One of ten national laboratories overseen and primarily funded by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Brookhaven National Laboratory conducts research in the physical, biomedical, and environmental sciences, as well as in energy technologies and national security.
