Detecting Toxicological Compounds in Complex Samples

At Analytica USA in Columbus, Ohio, Gertrud “Gerda” E. Morlock, a Chair of Food Science at Justus Liebig University Giessen, delivered a talk titled, “All You Need is 2LabsToGo-Eco! Sustainable, Fast Access to Critical Analytical-Toxicological Data” (1). Morlock’s talk focused on the 2LabsToGo-Eco system, which combines analytical and biological and toxicological testing into a single portable system (1). It uses open-source technologies and 3D printing to provide rapid, reliable, and quantitative analysis. A key innovation is its disruptive prioritization strategy, which uses ¹²D hyphenation to directly detect biologically active or hazardous compounds in complex samples, shifting the focus from identifying every chemical to finding those with true toxicological relevance (1).

Besides her position at the Justus Liebig University Giessen, Morlock also serves as the Director of the TransMIT Center of Effect-Directed Analysis (1). She has received numerous awards over the course of her career, including the Father of the Stevia Award, the Kurt Taufel Prize of the German Society, and the Csaba Horvath Memorial Award of the Hungarian Society for Separation Sciences (1).

Last year at Analytica in Munich, Germany, Morlock sat down with LCGC International executive editor Alasdair Matheson to provide an overview into how the 2LabsToGo-Eco system worked and what features it possesses that help it be a sustainable piece of technology (2). In this interview segment, Morlock explains how ¹²D hyphenation works in practice and how it improves the rapid identification of hazardous compounds compared to traditional workflows. She also discusses how her approach directly detects the toxicological compounds in complex samples (1).

This interview segment is part of our conversation with Morlock. Throughout the next week, we will be publishing our coverage of the Analytica USA conference. To stay up to date with all the latest from our coverage of Analytica USA, click here.

References

1. Analytica USA, Gertrud Morlock. Analytica USA. Available at: https://aus2025.mapyourshow.com/8_0/sessions/session-details.cfm?scheduleid=22 (accessed 2025-09-10).
2. Matheson, A. 2LabsToGo: An Analytica Interview with Gertrud E. Morlock. LCGC International. Available at: https://www.chromatographyonline.com/view/2labstogo-analytica-interview-with-gertrud-e-morlock (accessed 2025-09-10).