Is your biological safety cabinet (BSC) functioning properly? It means, does it really protect the laboratory environment, the microbiologist, and the sample. To ensure this, it must be regularly tested, and if the filters are damaged or clogged, they must be replaced. We interviewed two specialists in BSC maintenance to better understand the physical tests […]
In recent years, standards have increasingly encouraged food microbiology laboratories to use strains as reference materials. These strains can be used for method verification, culture media performance testing, or technician qualification. In addition to having a significant cost for the lab, these strains are not always easy to manage. Fortunately, there are microbial QC strains […]
In this article, we won’t presume to explain how to use a BSC… We spend more time behind our computers than in front of a BSC. However, during the interviews we conducted to write the series of articles on BSCs, we gathered some tips here and there for “optimizing” the use of our BSCs. Here […]
Our experience shows that there are as many ways to disinfect a BSC (Biological Safety Cabinet) as there are… laboratories. Generally, it is recommended to follow the instructions provided by the BSC manufacturer, but in the real life of a lab, we know very well that (almost) no one reads it, and that’s not good! […]
Today, most microbiology laboratories use a class II Biological Safety Cabinet (BSC). But how many microbiologists really know how this tool works? Understanding the operating principle of a BSC allows for better comprehension and thus avoiding handling errors that could lead to contamination. By the end of this article, the BSC will have no more […]
For several years now, in our microbiology laboratories, Biological Safety Cabinets have been replacing our old Bunsen burners. Why? Certainly not because of the rising gas prices, but rather for safety reasons (fire burns… apparently) and performance. But what exactly is a BSC? The different classes of BSCs A Biological Safety Cabinet (BSC) is an […]
To understand how culture media GPTs (Growth Promotion Tests) are conducted in non-sterile pharma, we contacted a SuperMicrobiologist; Alexandra Foucher. Alexandra has been a microbiology supervisor for over 20 years in the pharma industry, having conducted thousands of growth promotion tests… actually, it’s TNTC (Too Numerous To Count)! So, we interviewed her to learn her… […]
ISO 11133 and ISO 7218 standards require food microbiology laboratories to use QC (Quality Control) strains. This poses problems for the microbiology laboratory, notably due to the risk of cross-contamination. Following a call to the SuperMicrobiologists community to address this topic, Cécile Vadier immediately raised her… inoculation loop. We therefore went to interview her. Cécile […]
Most pharmaceutical QC microbiology laboratories routinely use QC (Quality Control) strains to verify that their culture media are capable of growing microorganisms from potential contamination. We call it a GPT, a Growth Promotion Test (still performed by human microbiologists and not an AI). To simplify their life, more and more labs are opting for ready-to-use […]
In the last few years, food microbiology laboratories have been asked to perform more and more quality control tests to verify the performances of the methods and agents they use. To perform these QC (Quality Control) tests, food laboratories need microbial reference materials. But where can these strains be found? A few years ago, the […]