When your professional work can change on a daily basis, how do you keep yourself afloat without succumbing to this dynamic nature? The only thing you can do, really, is learn to be flexible as well. In the research industry, this translates to two key things: mindset and equipment.
Those of you who have been doing research for many years understand the mindset needed to even consider entering this industry. But equipment- what does that mean?
In today’s article, we focus on cell lysis and what it means to have flexible equipment, specifically addressing the following question: Why should my cell lysis equipment be flexible?
- Accommodates for multiple cell types. All cells are built differently, and therefore may confer distinct lysis mechanisms. For example, bacterial, plant, and yeast/fungal cells are surrounded by tough cell walls that require high force to disrupt. In contrast, mammalian cells with only a cell membrane separating their intracellular contents from the extracellular environment require a more gentle method of disruption. Ability to adjust the pressure on your equipment will allow for complete disruption and maintenance of intracellular contents with any cell type.
- Adjusts for sample size. If you work in the drug development industry, this point is particularly relevant for you. When conducting R&D, scientists typically work with small sample sizes. But if/when a product progresses to clinical trials and then manufacturing, the equipment must be scalable. Thus, a procedure that was optimized for a small sample size in R&D will still be optimized during mass production in manufacturing.
- Forces can be fine-tuned for unique applications. Examples of forces include cavitation, shear, process intensity, and turbulence. Use of equipment that is intended to allow for flexibility will give you the autonomy to alter each of these until you have an optimized lysis for your cell type and application. (1)
Pion: Quality Cell Lysis Equipment
Use of flexible cell lysis equipment will provide numerous benefits for both production laboratories and consumers alike. And there are plenty of companies on the market to select your equipment from. However, the lysate can be of higher quality and more even consistency when run through top-shelf equipment, most frequently in the form of a homogenizer.
Pion Technologies is trusted by researchers around the world for both their laboratory homogenizers and their associated customer support. Cell lysis is just one of a variety of applications for Pion's BEE brand homogenizers; nano/micro emulsions, lipids, suspensions, and dispersions are also easily achievable. Additionally, the homogenizer processes can be controlled to suit your product, which will allow you to customize to your cell type. And finally, the equipment is easy to use, produces higher yield in less time, and achieves results that are reproducible and scalable.
Learn about how to make your cell lysis protocol more effective by looking at our laboratory high pressure homogenizers.
