When it comes to pipetting liquids, the choice of which tip to use for your experiment is vital. There are two basic types of tips: barrier and non-barrier. These two types of tips serve different purposes in the laboratory. The former is designed for common applications, like loading agarose gels, while the latter is intended for sensitive applications. They are often used for isolating plasmid DNA. Both types are available in bulk and pre-racked.
Main Factors
While pipette tips can be purchased from many different vendors, it is crucial to choose the right ones for the experiment. Choosing the wrong type can result in contaminated samples or reagents, as well as repetitive pressure injury. Fortunately, there are many guidelines to follow when choosing pipettes and tips for your experiments. Here are the main factors to consider:
Sterile Pipette Tips
Non-Filter Tips pipette tips have an additional benefit: they prevent contamination and sample carryover. Insensitive assays require sterile pipette tips, and filter tips help minimize this risk. Additionally, filter tips are a useful training wheel for novices. After all, it’s much easier to throw out a single tip than to send a pipette in for repair.
Best Tip Brands
As a scientist, you should also consider the accuracy and precision of your experiment. You don’t want to use cheap tips because the batch-to-batch variation will negatively affect the results. The best tip brands offer consistent accuracy and quality. If you’re using non-manufacturer tips, make sure to gravimetrically test them first to ensure that they are compatible with the pipette and the liquid.
The right pipette tips are crucial for your experiment. They must fit tightly around the pipette barrels. If they don’t, your study results will be affected and you’ll have wasted money and time. In other words, if you don’t use the right tips, your experiment won’t be successful. So, choose the right pipettes for your experiment.
Cause Tip Rim Stretching
When purchasing pipette tips, take into consideration the volume that you need to transfer. If you’re working with very small samples, a 50 ml pipette would probably not provide accurate results. If you’re working with larger quantities, however, a 300 ml pipette will give you better results. And remember that you shouldn’t use universal pipette tips. They may not fit correctly and may cause tip rim stretching.
If you’re using a polypropylene-based pipette tip, make sure the plastic is virgin polypropylene. It’s best to buy virgin polypropylene tips to prevent contamination from plastic and metal additives. Also, avoid colored tips, as they often contain dyes that are made with metal additives. While these tips may not contain metals, they still have the potential to introduce biological contaminants into your samples.
Fragile Cellular Samples
When working with cellular samples, wide orifice tips are a necessity. Standard pipette tips are often too narrow and will damage fragile cellular samples. Wide bore tips allow greater sample transfer and less flow resistance. If you want to use a large number of samples in a short period of time, try to find the wide-bore pipette tips, or BOD tips, for your experiment.
Extended-length tips are great for high-volume experiments, as they eliminate the risk of cross contamination. They can also be used for deep well blocks and microcentrifuge tubes. Short-tips are better for microcentrifuge tubes, and improve ergonomics. They allow the user to pipette closer to the bench, reducing the strain on their arm. There are a number of benefits to both options.
Final Words:
Barrier tips protect pipettes from liquid splashing or aerosols. They protect the pipettes from contaminating liquids and samples. These tips are also pre-sterilized and non-pyrogenic, which make them ideal for sensitive applications. Unlike other pipettes, barrier tips are more expensive than other tips. However, replacing them is more affordable than buying new pipettes. So, which tips should you use?
