Automated liquid handling (ALH) systems span the range from semi automated multichannel pipettors to room-sized systems. The industry is trending toward versatile, modular ALH systems—seemingly for every budget. Likewise, instrumentation, software, and methods have followed the trend toward greater user accessibility.

Geoffrey Bartholomeusz, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Experimental Therapeutics and director of the siRNA Core Facility at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, talks to contributing editor Tanuja Koppal, PhD, about why there is a growing interest in replacing some 2D cell culture applications with 3D cell cultures. He talks about where and why he uses 3D-based cell cultures in his lab and what lab managers should take into consideration before making the investment in this innovative technology.

Disposing of unwanted or outdated lab chemicals has always been somewhat of a troublesome, expensive, and sometimes outright dangerous process. Ironically, the introduction in the UK of legislation designed to make this practice simpler has not, in our experience, always had the desired effect.

Scientists at the Houston Methodist Research Institute have figured out how to pick up and transfer single cells using a pipette–a common laboratory tool that's been tweaked slightly. They describe this engineering feat and preliminary test results in a recent issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Get lists of questions to ask when buying either qPCR or RNAi reagents; the most recent chemicals, reagents, and standards releases; and an updated chemicals, reagents, and standards manufacturer's list in this section.

Get fun facts about pipettes, a list of questions to ask when buying pipettes, the most recent pipette releases, and an updated pipette manufacturer's list in this section.

The license enables SAGE Labs to use the CRISPR/Cas9 system to engineer cell and animal models for their clients as well as distribute validated CRISPR reagents.

Excessive background from endogenous sample matrix components has always been of great concern in bioanalysis, and has become paramount today with the need for decreasing analytical run times.

Store acids and bases separately. Store fuels and oxidizers separately.

Routine pipetting tasks across a larger number of samples can often be inefficient, complex, time consuming, and expensive. These hurdles can lead to increased training requirements, preparation time, procedural errors and ultimately hold back the pace of your experiments.

Chromatography data systems (CDS) are an integral component of any analytical laboratory. Yet, over time a CDS may no longer meet a lab's needs. This white paper from Waters details how to go about determining when you should replace your CDS.

Equipment for dispensing and aspirating liquids runs the gamut from handheld pipettes that cost less than $100 to mid-range benchtop units to complex, fully robotic systems that cost $1 million or more.