Today, PCR is used routinely in dozens of approved medical tests in diagnostic labs and physician offices, and by millions of scientists worldwide.

Dr. Gregory Shipley, director of the Quantitative Genomics Core Laboratory at The University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, discusses how he goes about evaluating and investing in new technologies and reagents.

A seemingly minimal exposure can lead to severe medical consequences including death

Here is a statistic that jumped out at me recently: improper storage of chemicals accounts for nearly 25 percent of all chemical accidents. Why is that? This is a sad statistic, given that all these accidents are entirely preventable, yet they continue to happen despite the availability of numerous and excellent resources just a few keystrokes away.

Only PCR analysis in combination with DNA degradation assays show the true decontamination potential of a reagent.

Liquid handlers are sold in a variety of fluid-dispensing configurations, from single-channel through eight (one row of a 96-well microtiter plate), 96, and 384 channels.

Pipettes are familiar to any lab worker who needs to transfer small quantities of liquid. Research and development labs in the chemicals, foods, materials, and paints industries use pipettes routinely, but the life sciences arguably consume the largest volume of pipettes and related supplies.