It’s common knowledge in the cannabis industry that printing labels is one of the most important steps in creating a product that’s trusted by buyers. Considering that cannabis has been only recently legalized in limited parts of the world, making well-printed, informative labels is a potential key differentiator for your business in terms of how the public sees your products, from oils and ground flowers to sprays and edibles.

There are many ways to label samples in the lab, though some of these may not be particularly efficient. Here, we’ll review these labeling pitfalls and provide tips to remedy them, which will make your lab more productive and organized.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires that all medical devices are identified with a unique device identifier (UDI), in both human and machine-readable forms. This system was put in place to enable healthcare providers and manufacturers to more quickly identify flawed devices, leading to faster recalls, and a reduction in medical errors.

First discovered in the 1950s, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is now one of the most widely used techniques to resolve cellular structures. It bombards a specimen with an electron beam, which is focused with magnetic lenses to give an extremely high-resolution image, making it possible to view subcellular organelles—and sometimes full atoms and molecules—with much more precision than either light or confocal microscopes can provide. 

Appropriately identifying patient specimens is of critical importance to pathology labs. The College of Pathologists previously evaluated the average cost of labeling errors at approximately $280,000 per million specimens, adding up to over $1 million dollars a year for some of the larger institutes.¹ Specimen labeling errors also result in the failure to provide proper and immediate care for patients, which can severely harm the patient, resulting in unnecessary morbidity and mortality.² 

Employing mammalian cell lines is crucial in life science research, especially with new, more relevant models of disease engineered with induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Here, we’ve come up with some basic tips to help culture cell lines, regardless of their source.  

We’ve reached the end of 2019, which is the perfect time to look back at everything that happened throughout the year at GA International. From new products to a brand-new website, GA has seen significant growth since 2018, including the establishment of new facilities, newly hired personnel, and winning several awards along the way.

While thermal printing has been around for decades, there are still many myths surrounding thermal labels. With so much riding on the proper identification of your samples, it’s important to get the facts straight when choosing your labels. Below, we’ve listed some of the most common misconceptions about thermal-transfer printing and addressed why these statements are inherently false.    

Barcodes are integral to your daily workflow, whether you’re a business, laboratory, or healthcare institution. For many businesses, they help track and trace inventory; for labs, they’re also necessary to identify samples and patient specimens. But what happens when the barcode fails to scan? Here are some reasons (and solutions) that might help you navigate through this unwanted situation.

As any entrepreneur will tell you, developing a company from scratch isn’t easy. Here’s the story of how George Ambartsoumian, founder and CEO of GA International, grew his company from a one-person enterprise to one of the worldwide leaders in laboratory identification solutions.