5 Responses

1. Ed Yong

   May 15th, 2007 at 4:35 pm

   1

   Ah journalists… sometimes you think they’ve got the wrong end of the stick. Sometimes you think they’re holding entirely the wrong stick altogether. Sometimes it seems like they’re not sure what a stick is at all and are waving a ukelele with great enthusiasm while the rest of the world looks on, smirking.

   Sandesh - I like your blog. It’s quite a niche subject but you write about it well. I’ll stick up a link from mine at some point.

   -Ed

2. trust but verify

   May 15th, 2007 at 5:07 pm

   2

   Hi, the AP guy is usually a few rows away from me in the pressroom.

   Give me a better description of the same length, and i’ll give it to him.

   TBV

3. Chemist

   May 15th, 2007 at 6:05 pm

   3

   Hello TBV,

   I am not sure what type of chromatography was used in this particular case but for the IOC banned substances and forensic needs they use Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry - when the sample is volatilized and carried by inert gas (like nitrogen or helium) through a long and very thin tube to achieve separation of components followed by identification with MS.

   So I guess that’s where the AP guy got confused and started bubbling gas thru urine I am not trying to be disrespectful here but it’s just very funny.

   I never wrote for the AP but I would write something like this:

   “Chromatography is the process labs use to separate out and identify different compounds. Gas Chromatography, a very sensitive type of chromatography, is commonly used on urine to test for steroids and drugs.”

4. Chemist

   May 15th, 2007 at 6:28 pm

   4

   Ed,
   Thank you for your comment! I actually enjoy your blog immensely and I read it via RSS. You are such an eloquent science writer and you make topics of Molecular Biology, Evolution, and Public Health (something that would normally be on the edge of my research interests) so appealing.

5. Ψ*Ψ

   May 15th, 2007 at 6:49 pm

   5

   If that were the extent of the utility of chromatography, I think chemists would be seriously screwed.