It’s always exciting when a maverick hits the mark. The first polylactic acid (PLA) Petri dish product is a one-to-one replacement for labs using fossil fuel-based plastic plates for cell culture. The maker, a small privately owned company called Diversified Biotech, Inc., collaborated with researchers from Brandeis University to develop it. Fostering eco-justice with a simple swap sounds good, but could this specialized PLA material even improve cell culture?
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Why do most new biosafety cabinets still have UV lights?
If ultraviolet light decontamination is not supported for class II biosafety cabinets in BSL-2 labs, and UV bulbs consume so much energy, why are most new BSC cabinets still ordered with UV lamps? Spoiler alert: some burgeoning bioscience applications require it, and fortunately, there are some options to improve its sustainability.
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A New Approach to Sustainability - A Conversation on the Re-Advance Initiative
Often, the validation work involved in establishing new protocols holds us back from improving the sustainability of lab work. Patrick Penndorf, a cofounder of the Re-Advance initiative, explains their efforts to overcome barriers to sustainable science and gives scientists a chance to join their Innovator Team.
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Five Biotech Products Helping to Meet Global Sustainability Goals
Policymakers are looking to biotechnology as they seek better ways to meet the needs of nearly eight billion people while conserving resources and protecting nature - all in the context of volatile economic conditions. Let’s cheer on five biotechs delivering products to improve sustainability and then touch on integrity in life science.
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Recap of the My Green Lab Summit 2023
More scientists than ever are working to make sustainability the ‘default mode’ for lab work - but this transformation will accelerate when everyone has access to best practices. Twelve hundred people from fifty-nine countries registered for the My Green Lab Annual Summit. We’ll take a look at a few of the summit sessions pertinent to life science and show you where to view all the sessions.
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Q and A with Polycarbin - The Closed-Loop Lab Plastic system sweeping Life science
If one sustainability conundrum vexes biologists, it is the environmental consequences of single-use lab plastic waste generated by laboratory work. In this conversation with Noah Pyles, we hear what sets Polycarbin apart from typical lab plastic recycling, how their system works, and why it matters…
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Preventing microplastic and microparticle pollution in waterways
Zooplankton Ecologist Juanita Urban-Rich, Ph.D., of UMass Boston, gave the compelling talk, Microparticles in Coastal Waters around Massachusetts at a symposium held last Thursday, hosted by Labconscious and New England Biolabs. Like many, I had read about how ubiquitous microplastics are - how they could be found in the most remote places on Earth. It was still jolting to see this material turning up in samples collected from such vast volumes of ocean water in my own backyard.
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Circumventing the Biggest Energy Demands in Laboratories
Research institutes and biotech companies are working in the wake of an energy crisis. Volatility in energy costs is the new normal. Biologists have long favored reducing fossil fuel consumption. The question is where to start.
A special thanks to Green Labs Netherlands (Green Labs NL) scientists Hannah Johnson and Benoit Nicolet, Ph.D. for sharing their perspectives.
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