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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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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Agarose : Over a billion years of evolution in your gel
The agarose gel that we rely on to analyze nucleic acids, perform chromatography, and so much more, is derived from a humble sea moss. Overharvesting threatens the future of this natural wonder and scientific resource. Let’s be thankful for the ongoing switch to sustainable production.
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Lessons on lab waste from healthcare sustainability research
The estimated disposable plastic associated with each COVID-19 RT-PCR test performed is 822 grams - including necessary PPE. This speaks to a sustainability goal shared by healthcare and life science alike - reducing biohazardous waste. Clinicians and researchers point to achievable steps to take now and achievements to strive for. Life science should listen in.
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Lab equipment that isn't lab equipment
A few years back, the hilarious Science Twitter conversation #reviewforscience made it into the news. A recent Science Twitter thread shows how this creative mindset persists - only the focus moved to lab bench work.
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