Subscribe to our Newsletters !!
There is one fact about life on Earth we cannot es
In biological research, especially in areas such a
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine awarded
India is one of the largest centers of global phar
By the end of 2025, the pharma, laboratory, and an
Tofu has been a favorite food for vegetarians and
Dear Readers, Welcome to the latest issue of The Magazine
In biological research, especially in areas such as drug development, regenerative medicine, immuno-therapies, and diagnostics, the use of cell cultures is crucial. However, the first and oldest threats in such research, i.e., microbial contaminations, remain the most serious challenges. Bacteria, fungi, mycoplasma, and other cells lines can ruin data collection and analysis by invalidating experiments and squander weeks or months of valuable time. To cell culture laboratory cell culture contaminations are much more than a nuisance. Cell culture contaminations are costly problems, costing the lab precious time and resources. The application of technology can help transform contamination control from merely reactive to a proactive effort. Let us examine the challenges and the potential for the technology more closely.
Contaminants such as microbes or mycoplasma do not exhibit visible or pronounced behaviors when they exhibit the practices that they do. They will happily consume nutrients and then alter the gene expression and disrupt the outcomes of an assay without ever being noticed for a long time. When they finally become visible, they will turn Experimentation integrity to a compromised state.
The most seasoned of researchers will still fall into the grooves of these lapses that in aggregate can form a void. Be it an unorganized aseptic changing of media, overcrowded biosafety cabinets, or incorrect pipetting.
Microorganisms can be introduced by and from a lack of surface sanitation and a low cluttered workspace. Uncontrolled temperatures and unfiltered air can increase the chances of culture contamination.
Microbial survival is worsened by poorly controlled humidity and fluctuating CO2 in an incubator. Because if low quality of water is used for preparing reagents, it can also contain microbes.
Pipette tips that aerosolize samples, filtration units that fail under pressure, or plasticware with inconsistent sterility are common sources of preventable contamination.
The good news: contamination is not inevitable. Well-integrated tools and proper workflows significantly reduce risk.
Thermo Fisher Scientific designs laboratory tools that not only improve scientific outcomes but also guard each step of the cell culture process. The following technologies address the core vulnerabilities that most labs face.
A biological safety cabinet (BSC) is where aseptic technique lives or dies. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s BSCs are engineered to maintain uniform airflow, precise HEPA filtration, and ergonomic design, ensuring both user comfort and optimal contamination control.
By creating a controlled microenvironment, BSCs significantly reduce the human and environmental factors that contribute to contamination.
These features ensure that cells thrive in a clean, controlled, and reproducible environment—day and night.
The risk associated with poor water quality is often underestimated. Contaminated water can tip the balance in volatile environments such as nutrient solution preparation, washing, and buffer pooling and can introduce impurities or endotoxins in the process.
Integrating purified water into daily workflows allows laboratories to remove a silent yet significant contaminating vector.
Pipetting is one of the most frequent tasks in any cell culture procedure—and one of the most common sources of cross-contamination. ART™ filter tips provide a proven barrier between the sample and pipette barrel.
Whether transferring media, supplements, or cells, ART tips uphold sample integrity with every aspiration.
Before media or reagents ever reach the cell culture flask, filtration is essential. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s syringe filters and Rapid-Flow™ filtration units provide rapid, consistent sterilization of cell culture media and solutions.
These solutions ensure that every reagent entering the culture system is clean, sterile, and safe for cells.
Low-quality or inconsistently sterile consumables undermine even the best aseptic workflows. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s sterile plasticware—ranging from culture flasks to multi-well plates—along with precision serological pipettes, enhance reliability at every handling step.
Using dependable consumables ensures that routine tasks support, rather than endanger, experimental outcomes.
There is no tool, piece of equipment, or technology that can single-handedly remove contamination risk. High-performing laboratories create a sophisticated ecosystem of remediation layered in protection, combining good technique and smart workflow design on top of robust equipment and consumables.
The integrated devices create an entire ecosystem of contamination control, sparing scientists the troubleshooting, and allowing the overall focus to shift to discovery.
While the presence of microbial contamination may be undetectable, the potential ramifications caused by it are anything but. As the ambitions of research develop and increasingly sophisticated, cell-based models are utilized, the need for workflows that are consistent and clear of contamination becomes mission critical. With the combination of advanced biosafety cabinets, trustworthy CO₂ incubators, ART filter tips, units of media filtration, high-purity water purification systems, and sterile plasticware and pipettes in consistent supply, laboratories are able to greatly increase the reduction of risk for contamination, which in turn improves overall confidence regarding their results. In the end, contamination control relates to the equipment, but is, more importantly, an investment within the integrity of science.
