Warming Trends: CO2 Incubators for Cell Culture

Date: October 11, 1999Table of CO2 Incubators VWRbrand large-capacity CO2 incubator, model 1927 There would the new "golden age of biology" be without the millions of cells that are used to unlock the mysteries of life? Maintaining cell culture stocks is essential and cannot be accomplished without the proper environmental controls. Once the cells are fed and properly seeded to the correct density, they require precise heat, humidity, and gas levels to thrive. Investigators sleep at night ent

Written byMichelle Vettese-dadey

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Date: October 11, 1999

Table of CO₂ Incubators

VWRbrand large-capacity CO₂ incubator, model 1927

There would the new "golden age of biology" be without the millions of cells that are used to unlock the mysteries of life? Maintaining cell culture stocks is essential and cannot be accomplished without the proper environmental controls. Once the cells are fed and properly seeded to the correct density, they require precise heat, humidity, and gas levels to thrive. Investigators sleep at night entrusting their livelihoods to the faithful CO₂ incubators back in the lab.

In general, mammalian cells achieve optimal growth in culture at a temperature of 37°C (25-27°C for insect cells) and under conditions of 80-95 percent relative humidity (RH) and 5 percent CO₂. Cell culture incubators control these environmental conditions in several ways and come in either water-jacketed or air-jacketed (also called radiant wall or dry wall depending on the manufacturer) varieties.

Water-jacketed ...

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