How to Store Petri Dishes: 10 Best Practices for Lab Sterility and Coating Integrity
Proper storage and handling of petri dishes is a simple but critical part of maintaining sterility, surface integrity, and reproducible results in any research lab. Dust, humidity, scratches, or premature opening can compromise cultures long before they reach the incubator or microscope. Whether you’re using standard culture dishes, ECM-coated formats, or advanced glass-bottom dishes for imaging, following a few key best practices helps protect your samples and ensure consistent performance. This guide walks through the top tips for storing petri dishes of all types, with notes for coated and glass-bottom formats that require additional care.
Improve Research Results with Glass Bottom Culture Dishes
Get the highest quality images and video for your research with FluoroDish Cell Culture dishes. Their optical quality glass bottom is as thin as a coverslip, which ensures the least amount of distortions and excellent heat transfer without any of the autofluoresence issues so common with plastic petri dishes.
Choose the style that suits your application. For live cell imaging, embryo research, and life science researchers working with small sample volumes, the 35mm Fluorodish petri dish with a 10mm well (FD3510) is ideal. Researchers working with expensive chemicals or experimental drugs choose the FD3510. They are also an excellent choice for microinjection applications, because they are designed with the lowest access angle for easier insertion of a micropipette during cellular microinjection. Fluorodishes are also available in 35mm (FD35) or 50mm (FD5040) sizes for cell culturing applications. For better adhesion of neurons, try the 35mm Fluorodish that is coated with poly-D-lysine (FD35PDL).
Improve Your Experiments with FlouroDish Cell Culture Dishes
WPI’s FluoroDish™ cell culture dishes are optimally designed for a wide variety of cell culture and embryology experiments including high resolution imaging, live cell imaging, electrophysiological recordings of fluorescently tagged cells, and microinjection. FluoroDish™ cell culture dishes are far better than standard petri dishes, because they are designed with optical quality glass bottoms, which offer superior imaging using the latest microscopy technology. WPI’s FluoroDishes™ have been cited in over 550 peer-reviewed publications by cell culture laboratories across the world.
Lab Supplies Must Haves When You Need Them
In any laboratory, having key lab supplies is almost as important as having the major equipment. Choosing a reputable supplier of these necessary supplies is as important as having quality laboratory supplies when you need them. WPI wants to be your partner in early drug discovery, and we stock a wide variety of lab supplies, many of which can ship the same business day. Having a variety of lab supplies ready to ship makes us a dependable research partner. Here are some of the popular supplies that we keep on hand to meet your needs for your upcoming experiment
VIDEO: Using the Adaptive Mode on the ATC2000
The ATC2000 is a low noise heating system for maintaining animal body temperature during expirimental procedures. Here we show you how to use the adaptive mode on the ATC2000 system.
VIDEO: How Does the PID Control Work in an ATC2000?
The ATC2000 is a low noise heating system for maintaining animal body temperature during experimental procedures.
How to Read a Vernier Scale
Vernier scales can be used on microscopes, stereotaxic frames and micromanipulators. The vernier scale was invented by French mathematician Pierre Vernier in 1631 as an upgrade on Pedro Nunes' measurement system for precision astrolobes. With a main scale and a sliding secondary scale, a vernier is used for making precise measurements.
VIDEO: Protect Cell Survival and Improve Research Results with Fluorodishes Cell Culture Dishes
WPI's FluoroDish™ tissue culture dishes provide exceptional imaging quality for many applications requiring the use of inverted microscopes such as high-resolution image analysis, microinjection and electrophysical recording of fluorescent-tagged cells. We have a 50 mm diameter dish and two types of 35 mm diameter dishes.
Microscope Chamber Setup for Live Cell Imaging
Watch as Barney and Kelly Boyce set up an InVivo microscope chamber. Ideal for live cell imaging, the chambers, along with heaters, carbon dioxide and oxygen controllers and stagetop environments are sold by World Precision Instruments.
How to Add a Camera to a Surgical Microscope
Watch as Gabe turns a binocular surgical microscope into a trinocular microscope and adds a video camera.
How to Assemble a SurgioScope
The PSMB5N Surgical Microscope has a motorized focusing system that allows for hands free operation. It is lightweight, compact and easy to maneuver. Dual bulbs prevent illumination failure during surgery. It has an optional video adapter and five magnification steps. This video shows you how to assemble your microscope.
Understanding Microscope Objectives
A variety of microscope objectives are available. All objectives use lenses to focus light. Light is broken down into various wavelengths (colors) as it travels through a lens. The various wavelengths have different focal points. That means that red, green and blue appears to focus at different points. This is called chromatic aberration. Spherical aberrations are focal mismatches caused by the shape of the lens. Quality lenses are designed correct for chromatic and spherical aberration to bring the primary colors to a common focal point. These terms may help you determine the best objective for your application:
APP NOTE: Using a Microscope with a Stereotaxic Frame
You can use the PZMIV stereo microscope with a stereotaxic frame as shown in the image below. This setup shows a PZMIV-BS. The U-frame Base Plate (502045) is shown, but most stereotaxic frames can be used in this way. Choose a stereo microscope objective that allows you plenty of room to work. For example, the 0.5X objective has 187mm working distance, or the 0.32X objective has 296mm working distance. You could also add a Z-LITE-Z186 illuminator. If necessary, use a 5 to 10 lb.counter weight on the boom stand base to prevent the microscope from tipping.
APP NOTE: Microinjection Setup 101
When it comes to setting up microinjection systems, the options appear endless. The pictures below give some broad suggestions on how you might set up your own system. Keep in mind that many parts are interchangeable depending on your needs or preferences.
Microscope Basics
Microscopes are a standard laboratory tool, but purchasing the right microscope for a particular application can be a challenge. First, consider how you will use the instrument. Are you looking at slides, dissecting a small animal or performing a surgery? (The application dictates the necessary working distance and power of magnification.) What kind of a stand will you be using? (Boom stand, articulating arm or post stand) Will the microscope be used in a classroom setting? (A trinocular scope offers the option of including a camera.) Will you need a camera? (A camera allows you to project the microscope image on a PC or TV or to take still images.) The answers to these questions help you determine the required working distance, level of magnification, type of mounting stand and hardware required.
Choosing a Microscope Camera
It is common for a researcher to attach a camera to a microscope. Three types of cameras are available, and two are suitable for microscopy work:
