cell culture
Media serum and what a bottle label is asking
How to read a culture-medium label: basal class, serum percentage, glutamine form, pyruvate, phenol red and the bicarbonate the incubator must match.
8 October 2026 · 10 min read
Topic cluster
Cell culture
Mammalian culture practice, aseptic work, contamination and the records a laboratory should keep before an experiment.
All topicsBuffers and laboratory water26Cell culture26Chromatography26Cold chain and sample storage26Cytometry and microscopy26DNA sequencing26Gels and blotting26Gene expression26Genome editing26Immunoassays26Laboratory labware26Laboratory safety26Liquid handling26Microbiology26Molecular cloning26Nucleic acid purification26PCR and amplification26Protein biochemistry26Proteomics26Research sourcing and study design26
biosafetyglossarycell culturecontaminationaseptic techniqueplatescontainmentrecordsantibioticsendotoxinplasticwareconfluencequarantineadherent cellsauthenticationcarbon dioxideculture mediumimaging
26 articles
cell culture
Passaging before a flask is overgrown
When to split an adherent culture before the flask is crowded, how split ratio and passage number change the next experiment, and what overgrowth does.
8 October 2026 · 9 min read
cell culture
Photos of morphology are data
A culture photograph is a record only with passage, scale and time since seeding. This glossary separates phase contrast, confluence and morphological words.
8 October 2026 · 7 min read
cell culture
Planning a culture week around incubator space
Treat incubator space as a reagent: how to plan a shared week so Monday is not overgrown, a power cut hits less, and quarantine stays apart.
8 October 2026 · 7 min read
cell culture
Primary cells versus continuous lines
How finite primary cultures differ from continuous lines in lifespan, donor variation and contamination risk, and why a paper's doses do not transfer.
8 October 2026 · 7 min read
cell culture
Quarantine of a new cell line
A selection guide for quarantining a new cell line: separate housing, mycoplasma and identity checks, a visual inspection, a token freeze, and what risk
8 October 2026 · 8 min read
cell culture
Questions before a plasticware enquiry for culture
What to specify before a culture-plastic enquiry: printed growth area, treated or untreated surface, cap type, material, and the cell behaviour the vessel
8 October 2026 · 9 min read
cell culture
Records a culture notebook should hold
The culture notebook fields that let someone else continue a line: identity, passage, medium lot, observations, contamination checks and the freezer location.
8 October 2026 · 7 min read
cell culture
Serum-free media as a concept
What serum-free and chemically defined media claim, why a sudden swap selects or kills cells, and how to adapt a line with a serum-grown backup.
8 October 2026 · 9 min read
cell culture
Thawing a vial without cooking it
How to thaw a research cell vial quickly, dilute the cryoprotectant at once, and catch a label, shipment or biosafety problem before the cells are seeded.
8 October 2026 · 7 min read
cell culture
Troubleshooting slow growth
A selection guide for a culture growing more slowly than its own record: which clue to check first, and which reagent class to change only after that check.
8 October 2026 · 8 min read
cell culture
Troubleshooting sudden death of a culture
How to name an overnight culture crash: contamination, toxicity, or a temperature excursion, and the first question each appearance of the flask should force.
8 October 2026 · 8 min read