Automating Mammalian Cell Counting

Courtesy of ChemoMetec For those charged with the mundane, yet critical, task of counting mammalian cells, ChemoMetec of Allerod, Denmark, offers a simple alternative to hemacytometers. Unlike some other cell counters that measure particle size, ChemoMetec's NucleoCounter™ system counts cells based on DNA fluorescence. After harvesting cells as usual, the researcher--using supplied reagents--lyses and dissolves the cells, adjusts the pH, and aspirates the stabilized nuclei into a dispo

Written bySusan Jenkins
| 2 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
2:00
Share

For those charged with the mundane, yet critical, task of counting mammalian cells, ChemoMetec of Allerod, Denmark, offers a simple alternative to hemacytometers. Unlike some other cell counters that measure particle size, ChemoMetec's NucleoCounter™ system counts cells based on DNA fluorescence.

After harvesting cells as usual, the researcher--using supplied reagents--lyses and dissolves the cells, adjusts the pH, and aspirates the stabilized nuclei into a disposable propidium iodide-lined cassette. The instrument functions as a fluorescent microscope, exciting the sample with green light-emitting diodes and measuring the emitted red fluorescence with a charge-coupled device camera. Cell viability is calculated by comparison with an untreated sample--only dead cells will take up the DNA-intercalating dye. Used cassettes are discarded along with other cell culture waste.

The NucleoCounter offers several perks. First, it is automated and requires neither calibration nor maintenance. Also, says Julia Cino, product manager for New Brunswick Scientific (www.nbsc.com), the product's exclusive, ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to digital editions of The Scientist, as well as TS Digest, feature stories, more than 35 years of archives, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Meet the Author

Published In

Share
Image of small blue creatures called Nergals. Some have hearts above their heads, which signify friendship. There is one Nergal who is sneezing and losing health, which is denoted by minus one signs floating around it.
June 2025, Issue 1

Nergal Networks: Where Friendship Meets Infection

A citizen science game explores how social choices and networks can influence how an illness moves through a population.

View this Issue
An illustration of green lentiviral particles.

Maximizing Lentivirus Recovery

cytiva logo
Unraveling Complex Biology with Advanced Multiomics Technology

Unraveling Complex Biology with Five-Dimensional Multiomics

Element Bioscience Logo
Resurrecting Plant Defense Mechanisms to Avoid Crop Pathogens

Resurrecting Plant Defense Mechanisms to Avoid Crop Pathogens

Twist Bio 
The Scientist Placeholder Image

Seeing and Sorting with Confidence

BD

Products

The Scientist Placeholder Image

Agilent Unveils the Next Generation in LC-Mass Detection: The InfinityLab Pro iQ Series

agilent-logo

Agilent Announces the Enhanced 8850 Gas Chromatograph

parse-biosciences-logo

Pioneering Cancer Plasticity Atlas will help Predict Response to Cancer Therapies