Cell-based assays have become the go-to technology for pharmaceutical, environmental, and toxicology labs. Cells are far less costly to maintain than test animals and don’t involve the ethical considerations. But the complexity of cell-based assays compared with chemical or biochemical assays presents distinct challenges to laboratory managers.

As the most abundant element in the universe, hydrogen might seem easy to come by, except that it’s usually bonded to oxygen in water or bound in organic compounds. Many applications, though, require pure hydrogen.

When implementing laboratory informatics systems, managers should consider both current and anticipated workflows, says Trish Meek, director of product strategy at Thermo Fisher Scientific (Waltham, MA). “They need complete agreement and buy-in from business owners and IT. Managers should consider the agility their business requires, for example, when bringing in a new product or instrument.”

When a scientist needs to concentrate a sample that’s in a volatile liquid—like acetone, acetonitrile, or methanol—a nitrogen evaporator can do the job. As a result, scientists use this technology in sample preparation in environmental, polymer science, quality control, and toxicology labs, plus others.

Water conservation has become a topic of interest in modern lab design. And in keeping up with current market needs, Labconco researched lab water usage and discovered one major sink hole — glass pipet washing.

When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration promulgated its good laboratory practices  (GLPs) for animal toxicology labs in 1979, the regulations were considered a breakthrough in compliance assurance.

When working with a biological safety cabinet (BSC), safety comes first. Nonetheless, it’s easy to make mistakes that can compromise a BSC’s performance.

With chillers, the solution is the same for achieving temperature control, cost-effective cooling protocols, energy savings, and long operating life: mechanical and operational efficiency.

The goal of achieving a truly paperless lab has been discussed for the past 20 years, but it is now, with technology catching up to the discussion, finally materializing. Nowhere is this more evident than in pharmaceutical Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) laboratories.

Once gas chromatography (GC) separates a sample into its component parts, a detector identifies them. All detectors provide certain benefits and struggle with some limitations. Whether some feature is beneficial or detrimental, however, depends on the sample and the application.

Advances in computer hardware and software, data storage and processing, optics, systems and instrumentation, labeling agents, and reagents have all contributed to the current surge in imaging in the life sciences.