Supplies & Consumables
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 & methods have followed the trend toward greater user accessibility.
Scott Martin, Ph.D., team leader for RNA interference (RNAi) screening at the National Institutes of Health, Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, talks to contributing editor Tanuja Koppal, Ph.D., about recent trends in the use of different types of cells and reagents for screening drug targets and cellular pathways.
Published studies, such as those documented by Artel®, have shown how a change in environmental barometric pressure creates volume variations, which alters the pipetting accuracy of air displacement pipettes. This effect is particularly noticeable when pipetting small volumes.
Pipetting is a fundamental activity for a laboratory scientist. Almost every experiment requires small and precise volumes of liquid to be transferred from one container to another.
Jon Webb, senior technical specialist and inventory consultant at ChemSW, discusses best practices in chemical inventory.
Chemical, water or other analysis requiring exact measurement and dispensing of liquid reagents relies on the use of pipettes. Some pipettes are disposable, however, reusable glass pipettes are preferred because they are typically of higher quality and are calibrated more exactly.
