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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Benchtop Custom Cell Culture Media Maker Expedites the Science and Circumvents Lab Waste
Every day, researchers around the world work tirelessly to unlock discoveries with mammalian cell culture experiments yet the full potential of this work remains untapped. Optimizing cellular health with adjustments to individual media components has established value to scientific results. One problem is that adjusting media to control for each variable is so much work. Along the same lines, it’s rare for labs to evaluate the material waste streams they generate by using commercial, off-the-shelf tissue culture media. The good news is that exciting progress in the field of cell and gene therapies is driving accessible economies of scale in cell culture experimentation.
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Has science benefited from online laboratory training and collaboration?
The pandemic forced biologists into new ways to conduct scientific training and collaboration. Online meetings, virtual reality, and augmented reality improve the carbon footprint of science. But has science benefited from this transition?
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The Pipette Repair Shop
Do you have a pipette graveyard drawer in your lab? Learn from University of Bristol’s Clara Brigitta how circular economy principles can be applied in laboratories to reduce their environmental impact.
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Inexpensive biotechnology lab devices- featuring the Prakash Laboratory
Labconscious scientists focus on sustainable lab work as a means to conserving resources and protecting nature, but the term sustainability can also be defined as” the capacity to endure”. Biotechnology is considered by the U.N. to be a frontier technology, alongside robotics, and artificial intelligence. The challenge is how to make life science methodologies accessible. Part of the answer can be found in affordable, portable, laboratory instruments. In that spirit, today’s post shares a list of frugal laboratory instruments by the Prakash Lab at Stanford University.
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University of Cambridge Chemists collaborated with Genlab engineers to design a faster, safer and more energy efficient lab dryer: the E3
Scientists depend on an ecosystem of supporters to run laboratories. Today’s blog features a collaboration initiated by University of Cambridge chemists with Genlab engineers, that resulted in a revamp of the humble lab drying cabinet. The result of this design collaboration is the e3. It’s a machine that dries faster, has precise digital temp settings and can save 72% of energy.
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Figure 1: A mobile device displays the Elemental Machines platform equipment utilization overview page. Equipment utilization is determined through open door events. The platform also tracks open door duration and also provides some open door statistics.
Go Green and Maximize Laboratory Productivity with AI lab equipment monitoring
There’s a common misconception that going green is expensive and a distracting obligation for large organizations. Few realize that it’s possible to create a greener lab space while actually reducing costs! Artificial intelligence tools can offer significant insight to any organization. Laboratories can reduce energy consumption and thus save money while simultaneously increasing lab productivity and protecting precious lab samples. Let's examine this technology in further detail.
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Using Rheaply to beat the odds against sharing lab supplies and scientific equipment
Northwestern University has an ace in the hole when it comes to making good use of lab surplus. Labs at the world-renowned Fineberg Shool of Medicine are now connected via a cloud-based resource-sharing technology, called Rheaply. Rheaply combines the ease of use of social media ease with the marketplace functionality of an ebay. No barcode labels necessary!
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