New Culture Plates Offer Low Evaporation and Enhanced Optical Clarity

Cell biologists will benefit from the remodeling of the classic 96-well microplate into a format that dramatically reduces evaporation and practically eliminates the well-known edge effect.

A minimal volume loss of 10% can concentrate media components and metabolites enough to alter cell physiology, a phenomena which is more pronounced in the outer and corner wells of the classic 96-well microplate.

To counter this problem Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (Milford, MA, USA) developed the "Nunc Edge 96-well Plate.” These plates incorporate large perimeter evaporative buffer zones that eliminate well-to-well variability, while dramatically reducing the overall plate evaporation rate to less than 2% after seven days of incubation. As a result, more viable and healthy cell yields are obtained. These buffer zones enable the use of all 96 wells, greatly reducing the edge effect commonly experienced in cell culture, while maintaining data consistency throughout the plate.

In addition to reduced evaporation, the Nunc Edge plates offer outstanding flatness and superior image quality. The remarkable flatness eliminates the occurrence of chromatic aberrations, enabling efficient automated imaging. Furthermore, variations in reagent concentrations from assay washing and aspiration steps are also dramatically reduced.

Combining advanced optical properties with a low evaporation rate, the Thermo Scientific Nunc Edge Plates will help researchers to obtain quality data from automated fluorescence imaging and quantitative analysis protocols.

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Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.