"Buy real estate; they're not making it anymore," or so the saying goes. Indeed, few pieces of property are more valuable, in relative terms, than the bench space situated between your pipettor and that benchtop tube holder you bought last summer. With each new acquisition, the painful process of evicting longtime residents in favor of new arrivals becomes more difficult. Which device is going to occupy the prime location next to the bunsen burner, and which instrument, heaven forbid, will end

At some fundamental level, every science is reduced to counting spots. Whether it be counting the number of stars in a particular quadrant or even the number of peas in a pod, at some point you must face the dots. It is inescapable. Unlike astronomers and particle physicists who have developed sophisticated software for tabulating dots, however, biologists had yet to develop an effective time-saving system that is comparable to what their colleagues have achieved in the physical sciences--until

Americans, in general, are notoriously impatient. We have fast food, overnight mail, instant coffee, and even drive-through pharmacies. American science, in its own way, has been affected by this unrelenting dash for the finish line. However, this was not always so. When science was in its infancy, a scientist could lead what was considered to be a respected and productive career whether or not he had contributed to the latest journals, secured an exclusive patent, or won a prestigious prize. T

Calbiochem's Nitric Oxide & Oxidative Stress Research Tools When scientists go exploring for new drugs, they begin by charting the metabolic pathways that lead to a specific physiological result. The enormity of such a task can be likened to another great adventure: the search for the source of the Nile. Explorers knew that water was flowing into Egypt, but from where? Countless tributaries empty into the mighty river transporting soil, commerce, and water rich in organisms from a dozen d

Date: March 1, 1999 Table of Bottletop Burettes Dispensing precise quantities of aqueous solutions has always been one of the more frustrating and messy jobs in the laboratory. Limited by manual operations that require careful attention and a steady hand, dispensing and titrating fluids remains one of the least sophisticated and most common procedures in the laboratory, responsible for introducing margins of error that are not insignificant when considered over the course of multiple readings.

Bellco Glass, Inc., has recently been licensed to manufacture and distribute the newly patented GenesisChip. The GenesisChip is the latest creation of Mark Lyles, winner of the Mind Science Award for his invention of ceramic polymer dental fillings. Lyles's latest venture is the application of glass and ceramic polymers to cell culture scaffolds. His patented PRIMM (Polymer Rigid Inorganic Matrix Material) resolves one of the important problems that interferes with cell growth in plastic scaffo

One of the problems facing scientists is how to organize data among teams of researchers. Compiling information from an assortment of notebooks and transposing a variety of different styles of handwriting can be an arduous process fraught with problems. Occasionally, an important result may be misinterpreted or lost altogether, altering the complexion of an experiment that demanded days or weeks of intensive work. Screen shot from Avatar Consulting's LABTrack Notebook Laboratory Information Ma

Date: February 1, 1999Table of Confocal Microscope Manufacturers Perhaps in few other fields has the creation of an instrument been so important to the establishment of a new theory or discipline. Even the Galilean telescope, with its revelation of the Medicean moons, does not compare to the microscope because the foundation for astronomy had already been well established by naked-eye observation. Cell theory, by contrast, had no such foundation in anecdotal experience. However, it wasn't long

The Scientist 13[2]:19, Jan. 18, 1999

The work of laboratory scientists is becoming increasingly automated through advances in robotics and microprocessors. As experiments run faster and the need to work with toxic agents becomes commonplace, researchers are finding some of their normal responsibilities delegated to their electronic counterparts. Robotic systems deftly handle minute amounts of reagents and cells without spilling. They perform hundreds of operations without getting tired, and they don't even need to break for coffe

Date: January 4, 1999Mechanical Ultra-Low Freezers, Cryogenic Tubes "Time is the fire we burn in." And though we may not be able to quench its unrelenting flame, scientists have attempted to divert its path by isolating small enclosures where time slows to a crawl. Within these chambers the frenetic Brownian dance becomes a chaperoned waltz, as temperatures approach absolute zero. The internal environment of a cryogenic freezer is a world apart, a reminder of the ultimate heat-death that must

Date: December 7, 1998Thermal Blocks Table As a strong contingent of companies maneuvers to establish dominance over a diminishing share of the market for thermal cyclers, the pressure to lower costs and develop new technologies has made this a dynamic year for the industry. Frustrated by competition, some companies that have been steadfast promoters of the technology are bowing gracefully out of the industry. However, as the leviathans of the thermal cycler business put pressure on the little