WPI Blog

You've calibrated your pressure settings perfectly, your timing is precise, yet you're still watching expensive reagents leak into the bath solution during microinjection. Sound familiar? This frustrating scenario plays out in labs worldwide, often leading researchers to question their pump settings or injection protocols. But after years of troubleshooting with scientists using WPI's next generation microinjection systems, one critical factor emerges repeatedly: tip geometry.

When it comes to gene modification and transfection research, success often depends on the smallest details. One of the most critical factors in microinjection-based techniques is the geometry of the pipette tip.

Meet the EVOM™ Auto from World Precision Instruments, the breakthrough that’s revolutionizing drug discovery. When it comes to drug discovery, reliable data on barrier function and cell integrity is essential. Transepithelial Electrical Resistance (TEER) measurements have long been the gold standard for assessing barrier function and cell integrity, critical data for your research, but traditional TEER workflows are often slow, error‑prone, and labor‑intensive.

A new study by Altis Biosystems (Durham, NC) using the EVOM™ Auto is undergoing a peer review prior to publication. It addresses the challenge of predicting gastrointestinal toxicities (GITs) in drug development, which are common adverse events in clinical trials. ​ Traditional animal models fail to accurately replicate human GI physiology, leading to late detection of GITs. ​ Researchers Colleen Pike and James Levi (with their team) developed a high-throughput assay, a 2D human intestinal stem cell-derived model, which assesses cell proliferation, cell abundance, and barrier function to predict clinical diarrhea risk.

Micrometers are the backbone of precision measurement in laboratory research. These sophisticated instruments, whether integrated into complex equipment or used as standalone tools, are critical for maintaining the accuracy that scientific work demands. Yet many researchers overlook a simple truth: even the finest micrometer is only as reliable as the care it receives.

Proper maintenance isn't just about extending instrument life. It's about protecting the integrity of your research data. A poorly maintained micrometer can introduce measurement errors that cascade through entire experiments, compromising months of work.

In surgical and laboratory settings, instruments are designed for highly specific functions. Two of the most common, forceps and clamps, may appear similar at first glance, but they serve distinct purposes. Understanding their differences helps researchers, veterinarians, and surgeons choose the right tool for precision and safety. Forceps and clamps serve distinct but complementary roles in surgical procedures, each designed for specific tasks and anatomical considerations.

Cell barriers, such as the intestinal epithelium, blood–brain barrier, or corneal endothelium, are critical for controlling what enters and exits tissues. A compromised barrier can lead to disease, while a strong barrier is essential for maintaining health.

Understanding how our body's protective barriers function is crucial for advancing treatments and developing new therapies. For researchers, accurately measuring barrier integrity is vital in fields ranging from drug development to disease modeling. One of the most important tools scientists use to study these barriers is TEER (Transepithelial Electrical Resistance or Transendothelial Electrical Resistance). This powerful measurement technique provides valuable insights into the integrity and function of cellular barriers that protect our organs and tissues. TEER is a gold-standard, non-invasive technique for quantifying the integrity and permeability of cell monolayers grown in culture.

You’re halfway through a procedure when it hits you... The surgical scissors in your hand were just used for something else. In a busy university research lab, that’s all it takes for cross-contamination to creep in. These unsung heroes of small animal surgery are always within reach, but if they move from one task to another without proper decontamination, they can silently sabotage months of careful work. One contamination event can invalidate entire data sets, force costly repeat procedures, or worse, compromise animal welfare.

With various options available for treated or untreated cell culture surfaces, how do you choose the right one for your research? From synthetic polycationic coatings like poly-L-lysine to ECM proteins like fibronectin and vitronectin, each surface treatment offers unique benefits tailored to specific cell specific applications and experimental goals. The choice impacts more than just adhesion. It can influence cell viability, behavior, differentiation, and even affect experimental reproducibility.

In this final post of our series, we’ll summarize the five coatings available on WPI’s our FluoroDish™ glass-bottom culture dishes and help you match the right surface to your application.

In small animal veterinary surgery, precision is vital, and success often depends on the smallest details. Whether you're performing a routine spay on a kitten or excising a mass from an elderly retriever, even the smallest instruments can shape a patient’s outcome. Among these, thumb forceps, commonly referred to as tweezers, quietly play a starring role in surgical success.

When your cell culture experiments require more than just adhesion, when you need to guide cell behavior, support differentiation, or mimic in vivo tissue structure, fibronectin could be one of the suitable choices.

Fibronectin is a high-molecular-weight glycoprotein found naturally in the extracellular matrix (ECM), where it plays a vital role in cell signaling, migration, and morphogenesis. In vitro, it supports both structural attachment and biochemical communication through integrin-mediated pathways. In WPI’s 35 mm fibronectin coated FluoroDish™ with a 23 mm glass bottom provides a biologically active microenvironment, perfect for small-format, high-qualityimaging experiments where clarity and precision matter.

In the world of surgical tools and laboratory precision, even subtle design differences can make a big impact. When it comes to surgical scissors, the choice between straight and curved blades is more than a matter of personal preference. It’s about matching the right tool to the right application.

Whether you're performing surface-level dissections, working deep in tissue, or handling delicate anatomical structures, understanding how blade geometry affects visibility, control, and access is essential. In this article, we’ll explore the unique benefits of both straight and curved surgical scissors, outline the applications where each excels, and help you make informed choices for your specific workflow.

Thumb forceps, the pinch-style instruments used in labs, cleanrooms, surgical suites, workshops, and even jewelry studios, are essential precision tools. Whether you’re handling tissue, adjusting tiny components, or manipulating delicate materials, keeping these instruments in top condition is key to both performance and longevity. Here are six tips to keep your thumb forceps in peak condition.

World Precision Instruments (WPI), the global leader in transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) technology, in collaboration with SynVivo, a leader in organ-on-chip (OOC) solutions, is proud to announce the launch of the EVOMTM Chip – a revolutionary multiplex TEER system designed specifically for real-time, non-destructive monitoring of OOC platforms.

Co-developed to support SynVivo’s state-of-the-art Blood-Brain Barrier (BBB) OOC model, the EVOM™ Chip enables on-chip, multiplex TEER measurements with embedded electrodes. This innovation allows researchers and drug developers to continuously monitor up to 12 OOCs for barrier integrity while simultaneously enabling fluidics and imaging, offering hands-free operation with enhanced accuracy, precision, and reproducibility.

In the world of cell culture, the substrate matters. For many anchorage-dependent cells, simply providing a surface isn’t enough. These cells need biological cues that replicate the natural environment of the body to adhere and grow properly.  That’s why surface coating of the substrate plays a vital role in the in vitro cell culture for biomimicry in vivo conditions.

When working with gas-tight NanoFil™ syringes, especially in applications involving viral vectors or delicate biological samples, priming your syringe correctly is essential to ensure reliable and accurate sample delivery. Even microscopic air pockets can lead to inconsistent dosing or air injection, which can be detrimental in high-precision workflows. Here's a step-by-step guide to priming your NanoFil™ syringe system effectively.