Dr. Barry Logan is a forensic toxicologist who serves as executive director of the Center for Forensic Science Research and Education and chief scientist with NMS Labs. Among the solutions offered by toxicologist Dr. Barry Logan and his team are bioanalysis and novel assay validations that meet the product development needs of clinical researchers.
Assays encompass any process that involves analysis of a particular substance, as a way of ascertaining quality or composition. Within the mining industry, this substance will be minerals or ore, while in the pharmaceutical sphere, it encompasses specific therapeutic combinations. When it comes to biological laboratories, assays are split into three categories.
Bioassays provide data on biological activity triggered by specific stimuli, ligand-binding assays measure the binding between a receptor and a ligand (molecule that binds to other molecules), and immunoassays focus on antibody-antigen binding detection. Common to all of these in vitro (outside the body) assays is a process of collecting a test sample of biological material and preparing it within a culture dish or test tube. The sample is often purified, in a process that removes unwanted substances and eliminates background interference.
Among the techniques then used for analysis are ultracentrifugation, filtration, and selective binding. After the sample is introduced into a controlled environment, signals are measured within the chosen detection system.
