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Like chefs in a kitchen, scientists in a lab often blend things. This can be a crucial step in sample preparation in biological and many industrial labs. Using a homogenizer, a scientist can blend a liquid or solid. Getting the right result, though, depends on using the best homogenizer for the job. In some cases, that means a handheld device, and other applications need something much bigger and more powerful.
For a quick overview on homogenizing systems, visit https://www.labcompare.com/General-Laboratory-Equipment/5173-Homogenizing-Systems/. From there, many product areas and lines can be easily accessed.
From Cole-Parmer (Vernon Hills, IL), Michael Steinert—product marketing manager, biosciences—says, “A homogenizer is a device that is used to homogenize many different substances.” Consequently, a lab homogenizer can be used in many ways. “It is useful for environmental biologists to break up and separate soil for analysis, a researcher for tissue and cell disruption to release organelles, and for a food scientist to use it to grind up food for further testing and analysis,” Steinert explains.
These devices come in many forms. In fact, Steinert points out that something “as simple as a mortar and pestle” is a homogenizer. When that’s all that’s required, Cole-Parmer offers a variety of mortar-and-pestle products to consider—including ones made of agate, glass, and porcelain. Other examples of homogenizers include cell lysers, optical homogenizers, and sonicators. “Knowing your application is pivotal to making the correct selection, as the speed, temperature, type of processing, how long your process will last, sample volume, and how viscous your fluid is will all have an impact on what device is most appropriate for your intended use,” he explains.
Now, let’s hear about some of the latest improvements in laboratory homogenizers.
Cutting contamination
“Laboratory homogenizers are typically mechanical high-shear rotor stators, such as the Cole-Parmer LabGEN 125,” Steinert says. “It is handheld with a variable-speed motor that performs up to 30,000 rpm and can handle small tissue samples, PCR, RNA, and DNA up to heavy-duty tissue processing and cell disruption.”
The Cole-Parmer LabGEN 125 is a handheld, variable-speed homogenizer. (Image courtesy of Cole-Parmer.) The outcome of the homogenization process matters the most. “While homogenizers were typically used to just grind up an item, the newer wave of homogenizers focus more on being adaptable to all types of tissue and have a focus on preventing cross-contamination,” says Steinert. “Disposable plastic-tip probes have been a huge development in this area, as, after using the probe tip once, it can easily be replaced, while saving you time and money required to sterilize a steel-only probe.”
In many applications, a handheld homogenizer is just what a scientist needs. In other cases, a benchtop device should be considered.
Benchtop but not too big
Just because a homogenizer goes on a benchtop, it doesn’t need to take up lots of space. One that doesn’t is the 25D from PRO Scientific (Oxford, CT). “This is a compact benchtop homogenizer that is really filling the gap between handheld homogenizers and benchtop units,” says Holly Yacko Archibald, vice president at PRO Scientific. “We are seeing customers having an increasing demand for precision in their speed control and replication even on the small-scale processing of samples, and the 25D homogenizer delivers.”
PRO 25D is a compact benchtop homogenizer. (Image courtesy of PRO Scientific.) Despite its small size, this homogenizer can handle sizable samples. It “has a large volume range with processing capability up to 3.5 liters,” says Yacko Archibald. It includes a digital display and speed control for 0–30,000 rpm. “Its three-turn speed adjustment allows precise rpm control in the hundreds,” Yacko Archibald explains. “This is especially important for processing a viscous sample, where it is so imperative to stay in control of processing.”
Yacko Archibald recommends this homogenizer for “a wide range of lab applications, including but not limited to compounding, emulsions and suspensions, cell disruption, protein extractions, medical research, or pharmaceutical processing.” That’s a lot of blending.
Break it with beads
How a homogenizer does the job really matters in some cases. For example, the Bead Ruptor 12 from Omni International (Tulsa, OK) uses beads to blend a sample. As the company notes: “Using disposable sample tubes prefilled with a variety of lysing beads, the Bead Ruptor 12 vigorously and uniformly shakes up to 16 tubes at a time, providing an efficient, consistent homogenization and high yield.”
Another feature of the Ruptor 12 is timing. “Unlike most other bead mill homogenizers, the Bead Ruptor 12 does not require a cool-down period between runs,” the manufacturer explains. “This means more samples can be processed in a smaller amount of time.” The company recommends this homogenizer for grinding, lysing, and homogenizing biological samples in preparation for molecular extraction.
Scaling up the samples
Sometimes, blending samples one by one works fine. In other cases, homogenizing a few in parallel is enough. But some labs need more throughput. There, scientists might consider Omni International’s Bead Ruptor 96 Well Plate Homogenizer.
The company calls this platform its “most versatile homogenizer.” It can be used for traditional milling, cryo-milling, and plate- or tube-based bead homogenizing. Even going beyond its name, this device can process as many as 384 samples at a time.
“With the stainless-steel jar accessories, the Bead Ruptor 96 is capable of performing all milling applications, including dry grinding of grains, powder particle size reduction, dissociation of plastics, plants, seeds, paper products, and drugs,” Omni International notes. “In addition, with the cryogenic processing capabilities, the Bead Ruptor 96 is ideal for cannabis processing, with the ability to rapidly dissociate cannabis flowers and edibles.”
What needs to be broken up and the method vary considerably across research and industrial labs. Maybe a traditional mortar and pestle made of porcelain is all that’s needed, but some tasks take beads and beyond to get the right blend. How we think about this process varies, too. In 1973, the Stylistics sang that we “break up to make up,” but the lab ballad might be a little less complicated—where scientists just “break up to mix up.” It’s not quite as catchy, but getting the job done is the key in science. That’s just what a homogenizer should do.
Mike May is a freelance writer and editor living in Texas. He can be reached at [email protected]