Although you might not be familiar with Chromatography , it has an impact on your everyday life. The process is used to find out what substances are composed of by separating compunds into their various components and its use affects everything from what you eat to how you fight disease. Chromatography is useful in determining which antibodies fight various diseases and viruses. Scientists used Chromatography in the fight against the Ebola virus, responsible for over 11, deaths, to develop the experimental immunisation Zmapp.
The process was used to find out which antibodies are the most effective at neutralising the deadly virus. The horsemeat scandal, in which horsemeat passed off by vendors as beef came to light, highlighted the ineffectiveness of traditional food analysis methods and positioned chromatography as the frontrunner in determining the contents of processed meat.
The traditional methods of analysis were effective at determining the composition of raw samples but inconclusive when analysing processed meats so a more precise method was called for. H igh performance liquid chromatography, combined with mass spectrometry HPLC-MS was then successfully used to find out if meat that had been labelled as beef was beef, horse or a mix of these and various other ingredients.
Food isn't the only thing you consume which has been tested using chromatography. Many drinks manufacturers use this technique to ensure each bottle of their product is exactly the same, so you can rely on a consistent taste. But in fact, the process is one which affects our daily lives in a variety of ways. Used to separate out a compound into its various components, chromatography plays a part in the realms of forensics, food regulation, athlete testing and even quality control in our favourite alcoholic drinks.
Well, in real life, gas chromatography is often used to investigate criminal cases like the ones featured on those shows. This can take the form of crime scene testing the analysis of blood or cloth samples , arson verification identifying the chemicals responsible for a fire to see whether there was foul play or blood testing after death to determine levels of alcohol, drugs or poisonous substances in the body.
For a more thorough analysis of this topic, see the article: How is Gas Chromatography Used in Forensics? Of course, not all blood samples are taken after death. The precision and accuracy with which chromatography can identify substances in the bloodstream make it valuable in testing for doping or performance enhancing drugs in athletes, too. Interestingly, the news story, doping tests also work on horses , reveals how a new hybrid form of liquid chromatography combined with mass spectrometry can also be applied to our equine friends.
Speaking of horses, the scandal of highlighted the fact that some disreputable meat vendors were replacing beef patties with horsemeat. Since traditional methods of meat detection and analysis proved to be inconclusive, chromatography came riding in on a white… ahem. You get the idea. Is My Burger Horse? With no margin for error, chromatography is once again called upon to ensure top quality in every bottle… and that you have a night to remember or forget. As well as specialising in more flippant matters such as the quality of alcohol, chromatography may also be critical in saving millions of lives.
The deadly Ebola virus, which has claimed over 5, lives since its outbreak late last year, has caused panic in the media and in the countries of Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, to which it has been largely confined.
As scientists attempt to combat the disease, chromatography has revealed itself as incredibly useful in determining which antibodies are more effective in neutralising Ebola.
Although no drugs have been conclusively validated as yet, it was instrumental in the development of the experimental immunisation Zmapp and will continue to be used in ongoing research. The world is changing as regulators and governments wake up to threat of climate change. Alternative energy sources are constantly being appraised as fossil It is often used when the dissolved substances are coloured, such as inks, food colourings and plant dyes.
It works because some of the coloured substances dissolve in the solvent used better than others, so they travel further up the paper. A pencil line is drawn, and spots of ink or plant dye are placed on it. There is a container of solvent, such as water or ethanol.
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