FIX

From Protists

This is a way to designate glassware, media components, etc. that ARE contaminated with chemicals that would disrupt the normal growth and functioning of the protist cells we culture. Even harsh soaps can disrupt the membranes of the fragile single-celled organisms we work with, so we have to be careful not to add stress to their environments.

Once a LIVE glassware container has been contaminated with contents that would be harmful to protists, then it is no longer LIVE but FIX glassware. All FIX glassware should be labeled as such, but generally we do not label LIVE glassware but keep it isolated in the LIVE side of the lab (culture room, culture transfer hoods, live sink). Fix glassware is mostly on the molecular side of the lab (on benches, in cabinets, under fume hoods).

FIX glassware should always be handled with gloves because their former or present contents could also have an adverse affect upon you (i.e. carcinogens, mutagens, etc.).