The Column-07-24-2015

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The Column

Researchers at the University of Waterloo in Canada are collaborating with clinicians at Toronto General Hospital to develop preclinical and clinical applications of solid-phase microextraction (SPME). Bethany Degg of The Column spoke to Barbara Bojko from the team to find out more.

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The Column

As part of a wider project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop sustainable next-generation toilets for lower-income countries (the “Reinvent the Toilet Challenge”), researchers have applied gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) to profile the malodour compounds in the headspace of latrines in Africa and India.

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The Column

Profiling amino acids in scalp hair could aid the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, according to a new study. Researchers performed gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) on hair samples taken from diagnosed patients and healthy patients to show that type 2 diabetes alters the amino acid composition of hair’s main building block, keratin, and that this biomarker could aid diagnosis in the clinic.