Briefs

Paufler brings more than 25 years' experience in the automotive industry to his new role and joins the Thailand operation from Greece, where he was president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz.

"I am very excited about the Thailand appointment and the chance to work in such an important and vibrant market for Mercedes-Benz," he said.

Emirates launches reward

programme for Thai SMEs |

Emirates Airline has launched Business Rewards in Thailand, a programme tailor-made for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Each time a registered employee books their Emirates flight through Business Rewards, the business earns Business Rewards Miles while the individual traveller continues to earn their Miles from Skywards, Emirates' frequent-flyer programme. The company can then redeem accumulated Business Rewards Miles against future flights.

Jeyhun Efendi, Emirates' Area Manager Thailand and Indochina, said: "Business Rewards is a result of months of research and planning, to understand what our SME customers want in a reward programme, and how we can transact and add value to them in an online environment. We believe the SME community in the Thailand will embrace Business Rewards, as others have in markets that have already introduced the programme early this year."

Biotec lab develops cell-lysis

reagent for protein extraction

The Enzyme Technology Laboratory of the National Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (Biotec) has developed an effective low-cost cell-lysis reagent - ENZhance Lysis Buffer - for protein extraction use by industries, academia and biotechnology research institutions.

Dr Lily Eurwilaichitr, director of Biotec's Bioresource Unit, said the need to initiate the project stemmed from the fact that the purchase of imported buffer was having an impact on local research institutions' budgets. In order to solve the problem, it was necessary to develop locally made buffer.

ENZhance Lysis Buffer works to provide an inexpensive solution for protein extraction. The lysis buffer was formulated for microbial protein extraction by utilising chemical surfactants to break cells open. More importantly, it can be use to effectively lyse many types of microbial cells, including bacteria, yeast and fungi, while still preserving biochemical properties of the extract proteins.

In addition, the buffer can also be use for geneomic DNA extraction. ENZhance Lysis Buffer is effective and economical compared to imported reagents, Lily said. - The Nation