Lab Etiquette – Part of the Experiment? 🧫👀

Every action in the cell culture lab affects the work of others. Here, lab manners are literally part of the experimental design, probably more so than in any other lab.

Bad manners are bad practices:

👎 “forgetting” Mr. Frosties in the – 80 °C freezer when they are urgently needed ➡️ seriously!

👎 “borrowing” other people’s reagents and media ➡️ colleagues may unknowingly end up with a contamination, or, even worse, with a cross-contamination

👎 ignoring booking times ➡️ messing up other people’s schedules

👎 not cleaning up after work ➡️ who exactly is supposed to clean up?

But cell culture labs are unforgiving environments:

👉 shared equipment, such as the sterile workbenches, incubators, water baths also means shared responsibilities

👉 contaminants spread quickly and invisibly

👉 effects of bad practices do not show immediately, but once they show, it is way too late

Lab etiquette is the cheapest, fastest and most effective way to promote smooth and relaxed workflows, reproducible results, less laboratory waste, effective use of resources, and an atmosphere of fun, trust and inspiration.

Any reason not to have impeccable manners in the lab 👀?

#CellCulture #GCCP #Reproducibility #Resources #Waste

author: asban