Over the past year, Célia Algros took part in a project to discover microbial enzymes that could metabolize nucleosides in an internship at NEB. In an offshoot of this project, she also surveyed energy consumption, consumables, and waste generated to estimate the carbon cost of her E. coli transformations. The effort gave her a new appreciation for both the complexity of calculating carbon footprints and the sizable environmental impact of experiments.
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No Cost Low Cost Lab Sustainability Strategies
Good science can go further with lab changes that drive down costs. The problem is that biologists asked to cut overhead costs in biotech or pharma lab work may not know where to begin. A nice overview of universal approaches to improving lab sustainability was shared with Labconscious by Steve Miller from Lab ReNew.
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The First PLA Plastic Plates Offered for Tissue Culture
It’s always exciting when a maverick hits the mark. The first polylactic acid (PLA) Petri dish product is a one-to-one replacement for labs using fossil fuel-based plastic plates for cell culture. The maker, a small privately owned company called Diversified Biotech, Inc., collaborated with researchers from Brandeis University to develop it. Fostering eco-justice with a simple swap sounds good, but could this specialized PLA material even improve cell culture?
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Why do most new biosafety cabinets still have UV lights?
If ultraviolet light decontamination is not supported for class II biosafety cabinets in BSL-2 labs, and UV bulbs consume so much energy, why are most new BSC cabinets still ordered with UV lamps? Spoiler alert: some burgeoning bioscience applications require it, and fortunately, there are some options to improve its sustainability.
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Circumventing the Biggest Energy Demands in Laboratories
Research institutes and biotech companies are working in the wake of an energy crisis. Volatility in energy costs is the new normal. Biologists have long favored reducing fossil fuel consumption. The question is where to start.
A special thanks to Green Labs Netherlands (Green Labs NL) scientists Hannah Johnson and Benoit Nicolet, Ph.D. for sharing their perspectives.
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How Laboratories can Reduce their Greenhouse Gas Emissions
In this blog post, we will discuss some of the major ways that labs can reduce their emissions while saving money and future-proofing themselves for sustainability.
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LEAF in labs, greenwashing and sustainable science : Q & A with Martin Farley
Martin Farley has helped thousands of biologists around the world to improve research capacity and quality while minimizing lab materials, energy, and time. Our thanks to Martin for sharing his insights!
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How a Sanofi vaccine research group revamped their lab freezer system: Interview with EHS Head Partha Krishnan Ph.D.
Scientists rely on efficient laboratory conditions to be able to focus on discovery. Learn the steps a Sanofi Pasteur vaccine research group took to radically transform their cold storage organization in this interview with Partha Krishnan, Ph.D.
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