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Lab Incubators

Laboratory Incubators: It’s A Culture Thing

 

No laboratory is complete without the addition of an incubator. Laboratory incubators are essential for the growth and maintenance of cell or microbiological cultures. They provide the environmental conditions a researcher or lab technician requires for experimental work. Without a laboratory incubator, scientists cannot retain viable bacterial and eukaryotic cell cultures in pristine condition for their research and studies.

 

Specific Purpose

 

Lab incubators serve a very specific purpose. Their intent is to provide researchers with a storage facility for their cultures. To ensure the cultures, they wish to preserve, can grow and retain their viability, laboratory incubators must offer these two major qualities:

  • A controlled environment, e.g., humidity, temperature and specific gases
  • A contaminant-free environment

This ensures lab technicians and researchers are able to rely on the quality and condition of the cultures they are cultivating and/or examining.

 

Disciplines Requiring Lab Incubators

 

Many different kinds of disciplines require the use of a lab incubator to help them in their research. Among the main areas finding this equipment essential for cell and culture preservation are:

  • Biology
  • Cell biology
  • Hematology
  • Microbiology
  • Molecular biology
  • Pharmaceutical studies

In these fields, laboratory incubators are essential tools.

 

Types of Laboratory Incubators

 

To satisfy the requirements and needs of diverse research programs and designs, lab incubators come in a variety of sizes and types. Among the many available are:

  • Bacteriological incubator
  • Biological oxygen demand (BOD) units: Usually for plant and insect studies
  • Bioreactors
  • Carbon dioxide incubator
  • Dry bath incubators: single or dual blocks Shaking incubators
  • Hybridization ovens

 

They may also be digital or analog. However, no matter what the specific type, it is easy to find the right size for specific applications. Laboratory incubators are available in small 20 liters or 1.73 cu sizes. They can fit on a lab tabletop, slide into a corner or require an entire room.