Like the late comedian Rodney Dangerfield, laboratory water purification systems get no respect. Lab workers use them every day, but few realize— beyond opening the spigot—how they operate.

Once the domain of do-it-yourself Ph.D. scientists who spent years studying its intricacies, mass spectrometry (MS) is continuing to go “down market,” says Alessandro Baldi, Ph.D., business manager for MS at PerkinElmer (Waltham, MA).

New materials and ergonomics contribute to ease of operation

Laboratory information management systems (LIMSs) are software packages that connect instruments, other software and sample management to human operators and other data systems, including electronic laboratory notebooks (ELNs).

Fume hoods are notorious for consuming expensive resources, particularly electricity and conditioned air that is vented to the environment along with volatile chemicals and other toxins.

Laboratories have numerous weighing options, including sliding-scale mechanical balances, top loaders, and analytical balances.

Most laboratory workers view ovens almost as utilities, using them principally for drying glassware and heatresistant equipment, regenerating desiccants and catalysts, gently heating samples (and sometimes whole experiments), and curing or preparing materials and composites.

Experimentation in microtiter plates exemplifies the two dominating trends in the life sciences: higher throughput and smaller sample size. Microplate handlers are the robotic glue that connects microplate readers, liquid dispensers, plate storage systems, plate washers, and other equipment essential for microplate-based research and development.

Glove boxes are enclosed, controlled-environment chambers that serve as isolation or containment spaces for laboratory work. Most glove boxes operate in isolation mode, under positive pressure, to protect samples or experiments from the environment.

Automated liquid handlers (ALHs) are one of the truly enabling technologies of modern life sciences, particularly in medical testing, biological research, and high high-throughput screening.