Freezer Clean-Out: How much do you throw away because it was mislabeled or not labeled? TPP tubes come with a chemical and liquid resistant label on the cap.

Tube Breakage/Tube Leakage: How much does a broken or leaking tube cost you? If it breaks in the centrifuge and it is radioactive, it is 3 days and a lot of hassle. If it has 25ml of FBS in it, then that $0.20 tube cost you $10 in loss. 100% of all TPP tube lots are tested to meet specs: 9400xg (PP), to -180oC and up to 121oC.

Tired of Tubes Filled w/Dark Liquid & Have Dark Printed Graduations? All of TPP Tubes have white graduations and white writing surfaces.

Why Do Tubes Only Have Graduations to 5ml? TPP 50ml has graduations to 0.5ml and the 15ml has them to 0.1ml.

Buy some today and try them for yourself!

Pipettors specifically for the tissue culture hood are a necessity for any lab worried about contamination. And now is the perfect time to stock up on them-Midsci is having a huge sale! The AlphaPettes are fully autoclavable, which means you can keep your pipettes sterile for working in the hood. The continuous adjustment with either the plunger button or the thumbwheel means your dispensing volumes are always accurate. The lifetime warranty doesn't hurt either! They also accept universal tips, so you can use the filter tips of your choice. Sale prices range from $139-149, call or email Midsci for more information. You can find the pipettors at Midsci's website: http://thelabshark.com/cat/prodprice2_Detail.cfm?ID=942.

Do you have AlphaPettes? What do you like about them? What would you like to see from future generations of AlphaPettes? Leave your comments!

Once contamination has hit a tissue culture incubator, it is hard to rid that incubator of the contamination.

The best way to take care of this problem is to use a 180°C sterilization cycle overnight with each hint of contamination. To see what the sterilization cycle could do to for your incubator, click here: http://binder-world.cnpg.com/Video/flatFiles/237/.

Midsci carries two incubator brands that offer this sterilization feature: The Binder 180C Sterilization incubator http://thelabshark.com/cat/prodprice2_Detail.cfm?ID=2926 and the New! Shel Lab High Heat Decontamination CO2 Incubator http://thelabshark.com/cat/prodprice2_Detail.cfm?ID=3108.

If you have an incubator that doesn't have this feature, there are a few things you can do to keep it clean and free from contamination as well:

1) The humidity pan should be removed, washed with disinfectant (non-corrosive ones!) and refilled with distilled, autoclaved water. You can also add a few pennies to the water. Copper oxide is released as the copper in the pennies breaks down. This copper oxide eliminates the microbes that are present in the chamber.

2) Remove all shelves and other stainless steel parts, wash with disinfectant, autoclave and replace into incubator as needed.

3) Wipe down the entire chamber, including door and gaskets with disinfectant as needed.

4) Replace gaskets as they wear.

5) Replace all HEPA and CO2 inline filters every 6 months or sooner, if noticeably dirty.

Depending on the amount of usage of the incubator, these processes should be done weekly, monthly or quarterly.

Large bottles of Fetal Bovine Serum are the norm for most labs; however they can be the source of many problems as well. Multiple freeze/thaw cycles on a bottle of FBS can damage the integrity of the components in the serum. Precipitates can form. Sterility can be compromised by opening and closing FBS bottles multiple times. Money is also wasted in extra tubes and pipettes, as well as time spent aliquoting and tube labeling. Wouldn't it be nice if there was a way to start with smaller aliquots?

Introducing BioWest 50ml FBS aliquots, which come conveniently packaged in 10 bottles per case. The pre-aliquoted bottles allow everyone in the lab to have their own, to prevent any contamination, freeze/thaw problems, etc. For more information, go to this website: http://thelabshark.com/cat/prodprice2_Detail.cfm?ID=3104