Last month I blogged about U.S. National swimmer Madisyn Cox.  She was suspended after testing positive for Trimetazidine.  The Court of Arbitration believed Cox did not cheat, but no one could explain where the prohibited substance came from. Now we know. Sports Medicine Research & Testing Laboratory detected 4 nanograms of Trimetazidine in a multivitamin Cox has been taking for years.  Cox had listed this multivitamin on previous doping control forms.  The substance was detected in both opened and sealed bottles of the multivitamin. Keep in mind, a nanogram ..read more

Here’s a heartbreaking story from the world of competitive swimming. U.S. athlete Madisyn Cox has received a two-year suspension for sports doping.  During an out-of-competition test, she tested positive for Trimetazidine. Trimetazidine is a drug used to treat cardiovascular conditions.  The World Anti-Doping Agency has defined it as a “hormone and metabolic modulator” and a prohibited substance. Here’s the problem.  Cox states “I had never heard of this substance prior to receiving the test results.”  A biochemist who reviewed her case compared the detected amount to “a pi ..read more

I have blogged about the opioid epidemic.  Opioid pain relievers, which bind to receptors in the brain, have caused widespread addiction and deaths.  Now, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has declared that a popular herbal supplement – touted as an aid for opioid withdrawal – is itself an opioid. Kratom (Mitragyna speciosa) is an herb derived from the leaves of a coffee tree in Southeast Asia.  Kratom has been used in traditional Asian medicines for hundreds of years.  More recently, it has become popular in the U.S. and Europe for chronic pain – and as an aid for opio ..read more

As major worldwide sports events begin this winter season, Agilent is there behind the scenes. Agilent is collaborating with the Doping Control Center in Seoul, South Korea, to ensure that athletes from around the world are quickly and accurately tested, to determine whether any have been using banned substances to enhance their performances. Agilent has been a major supplier of analytical instruments to the Doping Control Center since 1984. During this winter’s events, we will have certified engineers on standby around the clock.  The center is expected to run 4,000 urine tests during mu ..read more

Last week, Gamagori City in Japan issued an emergency alert to all residents.  The warning – which included broadcasts over public loudspeakers– concerned food safety. Fugu (also known as puffer fish or blowfish) is a seafood delicacy.  While the fish’s meat is safe to eat, its organs contain tetrodotoxin, a poison 1,200 times deadlier than cyanide.  A lethal dose of TTX is smaller than the head of a pin, and a single fish has enough poison to kill 30 people.  Japanese chefs train for three years to prepare the dish safely, and 70 percent of applicants fail their exam. Gama ..read more

Two different research papers involving Agilent have made the covers of prestigious scientific journals in the same month.  Papers earn this distinction when they are particularly novel, creative, and the science is rigorous. Both studies involve solutions that are unique to Agilent and cannot easily be duplicated by other providers.  (This is going to get a little technical.  Do not be alarmed.) Analytical Chemistry reports on a new method for screening drugs of abuse (DoA).  The current epidemic of prescription drug abuse and its global impact on public health necessitate ..read more

I first blogged about the opioid epidemic back in March 2016.  Deaths from opioid pain relievers have more than quadrupled since 1999. (NIH)  The problem is so severe, it has contributed to a reduction in U.S life expectancy. (JAMA) Now, authorities are seeing more designer and synthetic opioids, which are even stronger than prescription opioids. Here’s the bad news: synthetic opioid fentanyl is 10 times deadlier than heroin.  A 3-milligram dose is enough to kill an average adult male. (statnews)  New York authorities recently confiscated nearly 195 pounds of fentanyl. (NBC ..read more

You’ve seen it on television.  Law enforcement wants to determine a victim’s cause of death.  They take a blood, urine or tissue sample, run it through a fancy scientific instrument, and discover that the victim had some drug or toxin in their system. Toxicology studies the harmful effects of drugs and chemicals on biological systems.  Forensic toxicology applies to criminal or legal situations. When analyzing evidence, investigators may be looking for a specific compound in a sample – for instance, to see if a suspect’s urine contains a suspected designer drug.  Or they ma ..read more

A few years ago, Northern Italy faced a scientific and political disaster.  Priceless and irreplaceable ancient artifacts started turning blue. These artifacts included human bones and stone tools from Europe’s last known Neanderthals, an extinct species that pre-dates modern humans.  The artifacts were originally stored in an 18th-century castle near Verona’s Natural History Museum.  When local officials sold the castle, they moved the artifacts to a former military armory for storage. Over the next several months, more than one hundred of these artifacts started turning blue ..read more

For the first time, scientists have been able to identify the bacteria that caused the Great Plague, by extracting DNA samples from the teeth of its victims. The Great Plague of London in 1665 was the last major epidemic of the bubonic plague.  At its peak, the death rate reached 8,000 per week.  In total, the outbreak killed about 100,000 people, almost a quarter of London’s population at the time.  The epidemic finally subsided a year later, thanks in part to colder weather and a major fire that engulfed the city. It was not until almost 200 years later that scientists identif ..read more