Cell cultureCell culture or tissue culture is the process by which cells are grown under controlled conditions, generally outside of their natural environment. The term "tissue culture" was coined by American pathologist Montrose Thomas Burrows. This technique is also called micropropagation. After the cells of interest have been isolated from living tissue, they can subsequently be maintained under carefully controlled conditions. They need to be kept at body temperature (37 °C) in an incubator.
Ultraviolet germicidal irradiationUltraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) is a disinfection technique employing ultraviolet (UV) light, particularly UV-C (180-280 nm), to kill or inactivate microorganisms. UVGI primarily inactivates microbes by damaging their genetic material, thereby inhibiting their capacity to carry out vital functions. The use of UVGI extends to an array of applications, encompassing food, surface, air, and water disinfection. UVGI devices can inactivate microorganisms including bacteria, viruses, fungi, molds, and other pathogens.
Petri dishA Petri dish (alternatively known as a Petri plate or cell-culture dish) is a shallow transparent lidded dish that biologists use to hold growth medium in which cells can be cultured, originally, cells of bacteria, fungi and small mosses. The container is named after its inventor, German bacteriologist Julius Richard Petri. It is the most common type of culture plate. The Petri dish is one of the most common items in biology laboratories and has entered popular culture.
PhosphateIn chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosphoric acid, aka. phosphoric acid . The phosphate or orthophosphate ion [PO4]3− is derived from phosphoric acid by the removal of three protons H+. Removal of one proton gives the dihydrogen phosphate ion [H2PO4]− while removal of two ions gives the hydrogen phosphate ion [HPO4]2−. These names are also used for salts of those anions, such as ammonium dihydrogen phosphate and trisodium phosphate.
Water softeningWater softening is the removal of calcium, magnesium, and certain other metal cations in hard water. The resulting soft water requires less soap for the same cleaning effort, as soap is not wasted bonding with calcium ions. Soft water also extends the lifetime of plumbing by reducing or eliminating scale build-up in pipes and fittings. Water softening is usually achieved using lime softening or ion-exchange resins but is increasingly being accomplished using nanofiltration or reverse osmosis membranes.
Agar plateAn agar plate is a Petri dish that contains a growth medium solidified with agar, used to culture microorganisms. Sometimes selective compounds are added to influence growth, such as antibiotics. Individual microorganisms placed on the plate will grow into individual colonies, each a clone genetically identical to the individual ancestor organism (except for the low, unavoidable rate of mutation).
Sulfolobus solfataricusSaccharolobus solfataricus is a species of thermophilic archaeon. It was transferred from the genus Sulfolobus to the new genus Saccharolobus with the description of Saccharolobus caldissimus in 2018. It was first isolated and discovered in the Solfatara volcano (which it was subsequently named after) in 1980 by two Germans microbiologists Karl Setter and Wolfram Zillig, in Solfatara volcano (Pisciarelli-Campania, Italy). However, these organisms are not isolated to volcanoes but are found all over the world in places such as hot springs.
InducerIn molecular biology, an inducer is a molecule that regulates gene expression. An inducer functions in two ways; namely: By disabling repressors. The gene is expressed because an inducer binds to the repressor. The binding of the inducer to the repressor prevents the repressor from binding to the operator. RNA polymerase can then begin to transcribe operon genes. By binding to activators. Activators generally bind poorly to activator DNA sequences unless an inducer is present.
Fenton's reagentFenton's reagent is a solution of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and an iron catalyst (typically iron(II) sulfate, FeSO4). It is used to oxidize contaminants or waste water as part of an advanced oxidation process. Fenton's reagent can be used to destroy organic compounds such as trichloroethylene (TCE) and tetrachloroethylene (perchloroethylene, PCE). It was developed in the 1890s by Henry John Horstman Fenton as an analytical reagent. Iron(II) is oxidized by hydrogen peroxide to iron(III), forming a hydroxyl radical and a hydroxide ion in the process.
DeicingDeicing is the process of removing snow, ice or frost from a surface. Anti-icing is the application of chemicals that not only deice but also remain on a surface and continue to delay the reformation of ice for a certain period of time, or prevent adhesion of ice to make mechanical removal easier. Deicing can be accomplished by mechanical methods (scraping, pushing); through the application of heat; by use of dry or liquid chemicals designed to lower the freezing point of water (various salts or brines, alcohols, glycols); or by a combination of these different techniques.
