• Biomarker Technologies (Phoenix), provider of the blood diagnostic for the detection of breast cancer called the BT Test, reported plans to begin a pilot study of the test in the U.S. beginning in April 2005. The company said it is conducting the pilot study to verify its prior results and make final preparations for FDA clinical studies. The study will be a retrospective blind test with samples from healthy participants, those with untreated breast cancer, as well as those from a select group of other cancer conditions in order to demonstrate the differentiation capabilities of the test. The BT Test is designed to detect the presence of breast cancer at the molecular level, unlike mammography, which only detects masses or gross changes in breast tissue via an X-ray photograph. The test measures five key cancer-associated biomarkers that can detect breast cancer when combined and adjusted for age.

• International Isotopes (Idaho Falls, Idaho) reported that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved its manufacture of a range of cobalt teletherapy and irrradiator capsules. The primary use of the International Isotopes cobalt capsules will be for replacement sources in radiotherapy units in hospitals. The approved cobalt capsule designs also include several types of small experimental irradiator sources that are used for material examination, accelerated aging and radiation hardness testing. Cobalt-60 that is to be used in any of these medical or industrial applications is required to be encased in sealed metal containers; the completed assembly referred to as a sealed radiation source.

• U.S. Genomics (Woburn, Massachusetts), a developer of single-molecule biology tools for the life sciences industry, will unveil its Trilogy 2020 Single Molecule Analyzer at two upcoming meetings. It said the bench-top technology platform, composed of instrumentation, reagents and software, is the first commercial technology to directly detect and quantitate individual molecules without amplification. The Trilogy combines advances in microfluidics, optical engineering and labeling strategies to eliminate the bias of amplification. The initial application for the Trilogy 2020 Single Molecule Analyzer is for the direct detection of microRNA (miRNA) molecules. With U.S. Genomics' library of Direct miRNA assays and the Trilogy 2020 Single Molecule Analyzer, researchers can now easily characterize and quantitate target miRNAs of interest. The Trilogy accommodates 96- and 384-well plates and can process up to 2,000 biological samples per day. The system is compatible with a range of liquid handling robots. Advanced software streamlines plate and protocol set-up and offers flexible data analysis for rapid results. The Trilogy will be shown at the meeting of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology April 2-6 in San Diego and at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting April 16-20 in Anaheim, California.