Cultivo™ CO2 Incubator Helps Researchers “Define Optimal”
Today Baker announced the launch of Cultivo™
A new CO2 incubator designed to prevent cell culture contamination and deliver precise, stable and user-defined control over three variables critical for optimal cell growth – temperature, CO2 concentration and relative humidity (RH) – all without noticeable condensation during normal operation.
Most CO2 incubators come with claims to provide “optimal” conditions for tissue and cell culture growth, but researchers should be asking themselves a few important questions about what that really means.
How do I define ‘optimal?’ What does it mean for my work?
It’s generally accepted that to create an environment conducive to cell culture growth, a controlled atmosphere with a temperature of 37°C, 5% CO2 concentration and 95% RH must be created and maintained. For many applications, these parameter values are “optimal” – that is, they are an accurate representation of the conditions in which cultures will grow with the expected characteristics and at the expected rates. However, many microbes have different requirements. For example, psychrotrophic and thermophilic bacteria grow best at temperatures below and above (respectively) 37°C (e.g., psychrotrophs Vibrio marinus, Thiobacillus novellus, and Vibrio cholerae; and thermophiles Bacillus flavothermus and Thermus aquaticus), making the manipulation of the temperature variable critical for the growth of such cultures.
Additionally, when studying a stressed cellular system, the ability to manipulate relative humidity is advantageous. For example, when studying the effects of V. cholerae on human gastrointestinal cells, the manipulation of all three environmental variables, including RH, is required, because the stress on the cellular system can be more accurately defined by mimicking in the in vivo response to infection (i.e., dehydration).
Optimal environmental conditions often rely upon an incubator’s ability to monitor and control each of the variables discussed above, so that research can be replicated and experimental variation is reduced. We ask our customers to assess if their current incubator reduces the number of variables that can change or impact the integrity of their work. Does it allow you to monitor and control temperature, CO2 , and RH? Or is just providing control over two of those three variables?
Finally, we implore our customers to not only assess the environmental parameters critical to their research, but also to assess the uniformity of those parameters delivered throughout the entire chamber. Is the same level of control provided on the top shelf as that provided on the bottom shelf? What about that found in the back versus the front of the incubator? Is there a “sweet spot” where you typically experience better culture growth, thereby reducing your capacity, usable workspace, and ultimately, the productivity of your lab? An incubator’s inability to control each of the variables critical to your research may compromise the integrity of your work, not to mention the productivity and operating costs of your lab.
What will impact the integrity of my research?
The primary concern or biggest threat that our customers typically experience within the laboratory is cell culture contamination. At Baker, we realize that there are a number of variables that will make an incubator more or less likely to prevent and control the spread of contaminants within the incubator itself. As such, we ask our customers to examine the technologies currently utilized within their incubator to see if they truly prevent contamination.
To help with that, we conducted studies within our own laboratory designed to assess the ability of common technologies used in most incubators to prevent cell culture contamination. We discovered that in incubators with evaporative humidification (i.e., those that utilized water pans to deliver humidity to the chamber), the most effective combination of contamination control technologies are:
- A large, full-face HEPA filter (vs. the smaller filters commonly installed in incubators);
- A strong UV light situated over the water pan; and
- Copper interior components.
Our testing indicated that each of the above components, when working in concert, helped to provide the most optimal protection against the spread of contaminants within the incubator. But, our studies also suggested that each contribute a little differently to stop the spread of contaminants. For instance, a UV light, without the assistance of a full-face HEPA filter, will not be able to stop the spread of contaminants originated from sources other than the water pan. In most systems, UV light is only directed over a water pan (or a water reservoir in ultrasonic humidification systems). Similarly, copper alloys alone, without the use of a HEPA filter, will not provide a contaminant-free environment; rather, it may simply stop the spread of contaminants once they have already made contact with the surface. Thus, an incubator that relies on UV light or copper alloy as the primary methods of contamination prevention will be limited in its ability to control the spread of contaminants within the entire chamber of the incubator.
Your work will often dictate what method of contamination prevention and contamination control is required. Again, what is “optimal” will be driven by the sources or cause of the contamination typically encountered. Where does my incubator tend to experience contamination (e.g., on the side walls, within the water pan, etc.)? How often do you need to access the chamber? Does your work – or incubator – require frequent door openings? The answers to these questions might help you assess what incubators or technologies might be more or less effective at stopping the spread of contaminants.
How clean is the air inside my incubator?
Efficient airflow, when combined with true HEPA filtration, provides a clean environment within the incubator chamber to protect your cultures.
Is your incubator cleaner than a biosafety cabinet? Ours is! At Baker, we don’t just make claims – we test them. And we happen to be the experts on delivering clean air and contamination control systems, having invented the world’s first clean air cabinet in 1962. The design of the Cultivo CO2 incubator draws heavily on that extensive experience – but you don’t have to take our word for it.
See for yourself. In this side-by-side demonstration, we filled two incubators full of smoke (Cultivo and a leading competitor) to test how well and how quickly the air is cleaned inside the chamber. Watch as Cultivo recovers to better than ISO Class 4 (Class 10) clean air conditions – in accordance with standards typcially applied to assessing the air cleanliness rating of a clean room – in less than one minute (48 seconds to be exact).
We urge you to consider what the most optimal environment is for your work and to evaluate the tools you are currently using to achieve excellence within your research. Learn more about Cultivo.
