APA News

  • Australian Water Quality Centre (AWQC) and Edinburgh Scientific Services Share Knowledge of Real Time-PCR Legionella Method


    Lorraine MacKenzie(left) with Edinburgh Scientific Services staff Kerry Bailey and Robbie Beattie

    Edinburgh Scientific Services are among a handful of laboratories in the UK that are UKAS accredited for the detection and enumeration of Legionella. In a unique offering Edinburgh Scientific Services are able to provide quantitative results by converting the genomic units output from the qRT-PCR machine into the colony forming unit (cfu) format used with the traditional culture method.

    Dr Mackenzie had followed with interest the response to the Legionella outbreak in Edinburgh and was keen to pick up any points of learning from the team in Edinburgh and ahare their method development experiences. Edinburgh Scientific Services staff were very interested to hear about developments that Australian Water Quality Centre had made in the detection of Cryptosporidium in water and also their work on faecal pollution source tracking using RT-PCR.

    Edinburgh Scientific Services laboratory manager, Robbie Beattie commented “We were delighted to welcome Dr Mackenzie to our laboratory which resulted in a very useful exchange of DNA methodology and best practice.  We look forward to continuing to work with Lorraine on areas of mutual interest”.

    The Australian Water Quality Centre (AWQC)  is at the forefront of water quality science and is world renowned for its excellence in research, development and innovation. The AWQC, a business unit of SA Water Corporation, was founded more than 80 years ago with the purpose of ensuring safe drinking water to South Australia. Today, the AWQC provides high quality analytical services, leading edge research and professional advice for a range of water quality issues from its state-of-the-art laboratories in SA Water’s head office in Adelaide. This facility includes advanced instrumentation to continue exploration of new and innovative ways to improve analytical methods.