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Enzymatic and Mechanical Approaches for Mammalian Tissue Dissociation

By Kim McDonald, 21 January 2025

Efficiently dissociating tissue while preserving cellular integrity is a technically challenging process, often involving a combination of mechanical and enzymatic methods to prepare single-cell suspensions. There are a variety of protocols for tissue dissociation depending on the tissue and downstream application. One popular approach is using orbital shakers or shaking water baths in combination with enzymatic digestion. Non-enzymatic approaches often involve paddle blenders, tissue grinders, or bead mills.

Using Sand in a Bath

By Miriam Carrillo, 19 November 2024

The choice between sand and other heating methods depends on the experiment's needs, including the required temperature range, heating profile, sample types, and vessel compatibility. A key consideration is whether a liquid or solid bath material is more suitable.

While many baths are called water or oil baths, they can also accommodate additional liquids and certain solids like beads or sand.

Air-Cooled vs. Water-Cooled Chillers: Which one is better for your Lab?

By Miriam Carrillo, 23 May 2024

Recirculating chillers must reject heat in order to function. The heat they are removing from your application needs to go somewhere! Therefore, you need to decide on an air-cooled or water-cooled chiller when purchasing one. However, the operation and requirements of these two types of chillers are very different. Let’s dive into these differences so you understand which is more suitable for your lab.

Preventing Contamination in Mammalian Cell Culture

By Kim McDonald, 20 July 2023

Mammalian cell cultures can become contaminated with microbial contaminants (e.g., fungi, bacteria, and yeast) as well as viruses. An estimated 25% of all cell cultures are contaminated with mycoplasma bacterium alone. Contamination can affect cell viability, inhibit normal cellular processes, and lead to inconsistent results and experimental failures. Sources of contamination include working surfaces, reagents, personnel, and instrumentation. Water is excellent at conducting heat and equally great at becoming contaminated. Thus, water baths and CO₂ incubators are notorious for fostering the growth of bacteria, yeast, algae, and fungi, which can result in contaminated cultures. We’ve outlined best practices to ensure your water baths and CO₂ incubators do not ruin your next mammalian cell or tissue culture experiment.

Water bath or bead bath: which one is better?

By Kim McDonald, 27 June 2023

Both water and bead baths are used to warm laboratory reagents, such as media, as well as incubate samples. As the names imply, a water bath is full of water, and a bead bath is filled with thermal metal beads. Water conducts heat evenly, whereas bead baths can cause uneven temperature distribution. When using a bead bath, it is a good idea to use a temperature probe to check for the temperature near your sample or reagent. Water baths are prone to contamination, whereas bead baths, such as those filled with aluminum Lab Armor® thermal beads, are resistant to contamination. This is especially important for applications where samples or reagents must stay sterile, such as cell or tissue culture media.

Best Practices for Using an Ultrasonic Bath

By Aimee O'Driscoll, 11 May 2021

Using an ultrasonic bath improperly can cause a range of issues. Discover the key best practices to follow to ensure you use your bath safely and efficiently.

How to Degas a Solution Using an Ultrasonic Bath

By Aimee O'Driscoll, 09 April 2021

Trapped gases in liquids can be undesirable for many applications. We explore why we might need to degas solutions and how to do this using an ultrasonic bath.

Choosing a More Environmentally-Friendly Chiller

By Aimee O'Driscoll, 05 February 2021

Sustainability is a core goal for an increasing number of organizations. We reveal the main factors to consider when choosing a more environmentally-friendly chiller.

Calculating the Heat Generated by a Recirculating Chiller

By Aimee O'Driscoll, 05 February 2021

Find out about the reasons you’d want to calculate the amount of heat generated by a recirculating chiller and how to carry out the necessary calculations.

How to Calculate Heating or Cooling Time

By Aimee O'Driscoll, 21 April 2020

We take a look at the equation for calculating heating or cooling time and the reasons you should look for a system with slightly more power than you think you need.

Thermal Conductivity and Specific Heat of Bath and Chiller Fluids

By Aimee O'Driscoll, 07 February 2020

We discuss the importance of thermal conductivity and specific heat as they relate to bath and chiller fluids, and list the values for common fluids.

Safety Tips for Using an Oil Bath

By Aimee O'Driscoll, 05 December 2019

Dealing with warm or hot oil can be dangerous for a number of reasons. We discuss tips to help you mitigate the risks involved with using an oil bath.

Cooling Capacity of Recirculating Chillers

By Aimee O'Driscoll, 23 September 2019

We explain what cooling capacity is and what factors affect it, as well as how to determine the cooling capacity you need for your application.

Why Variable-Frequency Ultrasonic Baths Are Very Rare

By Aimee O'Driscoll, 20 June 2019

We explain how frequency affects ultrasonic cleaning and why you likely don’t need a range of frequencies.

Open-Loop vs. Closed-Loop Circulation

By Aimee O'Driscoll, 24 March 2019

External circulation can be closed-loop or open-loop. Find out about the differences between the two and the implications when choosing a chiller or circulating bath.