Microbial culture or cell culture is one of the biggest scientific innovations that have revolutionized our world. This process basically involves cultivation of live cells in a controlled growth environment of laboratory. This growth environment is controlled with the help of different types of laboratory equipment. This scientific procedure has immensely helped in cultivating cells within the confines of laboratories. Cell or microbial culture is the base of many scientific inventions that have proved to be a boon for the medical world. This procedure has not only helped in finding out cure for different diseases, but has also helped in understanding the structure of microbes and cells.
Application Of Incubators
The lab equipment, which is used for cell culture or microbial culture is known as incubator. The main function of this equipment is to maintain an optimal temperature and humidity for cell culture. Apart from this, the incubator is also used for maintaining a constant supply of carbon dioxide and oxygen around the live cells that are cultivated in petri dishes or in any other lab apparatus. This lab equipment is essential for a lot of experimental work, which is related to molecular biology and cell biology. Incubator also finds application in poultry industry. The eggs are placed inside incubator and are subjected to an environment that can boost the growth of embryos. This is basically done to hatch more number of eggs within a less amount of time, for commercial purpose.
Types Of Incubators
Incubator is basically an insulated box that consists of an adjustable heater, which can maintain a temperature between 60 to 65 °C inside the equipment. However, some variants of incubator comprise of heating system that can reach up to 100 °C. Apart from this, there are many variants of incubators that have a freezing system, instead of heating system. These incubators are mostly used for cultivation of mammalian cells that require a considerably low temperature for growth. Many of these incubators also have a special system that can control carbon dioxide and humidity levels. The latest version of this lab equipment is incubator shaker, and it is used for applications like bacterial suspension and extraction procedures. This variant is also employed in lab processes like environmental soil analysis. Following are three types of shaker incubator models available in market:Floor standing modelChamber modelBenchtop modelThe design and shape of incubator shakers can differ, in accordance with the application for which it is manufactured.