A CO2 incubator is a laboratory equipment also called a gasification incubator, where the development of cell and tissue cultures is guaranteed by creating a natural atmosphere. This culture of living organisms in vitro is one of the main applications of CO2 incubators. That is why these devices are used mainly in medical research and in the pharmaceutical industry in:
Manufacture of Tissue Engineering Products
Tissue engineering products are drugs developed especially for new therapies. Through these new forms of treatment, science hopes to be able to cure hitherto incurable diseases, such as malignant tumors or cardiovascular failure. In the research, development and quality control of these drugs, CO2 incubators are responsible for the creation of cell and tissue cultures.
In research for lipid-based gene therapy in a human skin model, CO2 incubators were used to isolate epidermal keratocytes, to perform neutral red tests, and to prepare epidermal keratinocytes for transfection. Cells are produced in authorized centers for cell therapy. In this way, it is possible to reproduce living tissue, such as heart valves or blood vessels, from stem cells in the laboratory.
In vitro fertilization and incubator
In vitro fertilization describes a method of artificial fertilization in human reproductive medicine. The objective of this application is the fusion of an egg and a sperm in a Petri dish with cell culture fluid.
Fertilization and human embryo development begin in a CO2 incubator. After two to three days, the embryos can implant in the uterus. Optimal values in the hatchery are 37 ° C, 5 or 6% by volume CO2 and humidity values around 95%.
Diagnostic medicine
Cell culture analysis plays an important role in pathogen diagnostic analysis. With the results it is possible to formulate precise hygiene indications, as well as to evaluate the residence of biomedicines against viruses. In this sense, a common method consists of the analysis of random samples, in which the cultures of cells susceptible to viruses are confronted with viruses to verify their biological function.
For the various steps of the process, such as thawing and placing of cells, as well as infection of cell lines and staining of cell cultures, CO2 incubators are the right tool.
Cancer Research and incubator
CO2 incubators play an important role in the preparation of tests or experiments in all areas of cancer research, such as active agent research, 3D invasion development, assays and biosensors, from simple monolayer to reproduction of patient tumors using 3D cell culture models (drug research and therapy development).
In the areas of immunology and tumor biology (development of malignant tumors), both CO2 incubators at 37ºC with a CO2 volume of 5% and 95% relative humidity are used for normoxic culture conditions as well as CO2 / incubators. O2 at 37ºC with a volume of CO2 of 5% and a volume of hypoxia of 1% of volume of O2, depending on the cell cultures.
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