Tissue Culture Microscopes: Their Benefits and Applications
To study and work with live cells you need a medium that helps encourage their growth. Many choose to use Petri dishes or other vessels, but the one tool you must have in your arsenal is a tissue culture microscope or another type of live cell microscope. These microscopes are specially designed to see the tiniest cells so you can study them during your research in biological and medical sciences.
In many cases, to view live cells you will need around 100X or 200X of total magnification. However, in some specialty applications, you might need more magnifying power at around 400X. Tissue culture microscopes and other inverted microscopes allow researchers to view larger mediums rather than small slides because of the area the light covers which makes them useful in a variety of laboratory and industrial settings.
Because cell research is crucial in so many areas of scientific research, let’s look at a few of the applications for tissue culture microscopes along with some general information so you can learn more about these powerful pieces of lab equipment.
The Unique Features
Tissue culture microscopes are a type of inverted microscope where the light source is placed above the specimen rather than shining from below. The objective or turret of the microscope is on the bottom where the image is viewed of the live cells.
With a tissue culture microscope, you can keep your specimen alive rather than having to preserve it on a slide. This is because of the direction of the light source. With this ability to view Petri dishes full of cells, scientists can view the rapid division of cells, which is crucial in biological sciences. This wasn't possible before, and the invention of the inverted microscope in 1850 was a game changer for science and medical research as a whole.
Areas of Application
Tissue culture microscopes are widely used in the following fields of study:
- Medical research
- Cellular biology
- Microbiological study
- Molecular biology
- Environmental research
- Medical diagnostics
- Biology classroom equipment
Benefits of Tissue Culture Microscopes
One of the most significant benefits that tissue culture microscopes provide is their ease of use. Many microscopes in this price range typically require professional experience and are very delicate. Tissue culture microscopes, on the other hand, are extremely precise while remaining user-friendly for most scientists and students with experience using microscopes.
With a tissue culture microscope, you can also work quicker when imaging a variety of different samples. You don't need to mess with dials to lower the stage, clip the slide in, and then focus the image. Instead, all you have to do is place the sample on the fixed stage, image it, and move onto the next. If you are working with many samples in one day, this is an incredible time saving feature.
The Equipment You Need
Are you looking for the best selection of microscopes and lab accessories on the web? Be sure to browse our entire selection of tissue culture microscopes at Microscope Central! We offer the best equipment to help you make discoveries every day!
