Pure Water: The Unsung Hero Of The Lab
Pure water plays a pivotal role in almost every life science experiment, diagnostic test or chemical reaction. It’s so important, there’s even a high impact journal dedicated to reporting on new water-based research and purification methods. Sadly, lab water still rarely gets the attention it deserves.
Without pure water, very few experiments, tests or reactions would be possible. Thanks to its favorable chemical and physical properties, water is often considered the ‘universal solvent’ as it dissolves more substances than any other liquid. Perhaps even more importantly, many biochemical reactions will only take place within aqueous solutions.
One potential limitation of water is that it is a weak eluent and a poor solvent of most organic compounds, due to it being highly polar at ambient temperatures. However, superheated water at 200°C has similar properties to typical organic solvents such as methanol, so it can be used to dissolve many organic compounds. This adds even more credibility to water’s status as the universal solvent and means you can use it in a wider range of applications, such as separation and extraction science. Even better, water is cheaper, less flammable and more environmentally friendly than most organic solvents – more great reasons why water is an essential reagent in the lab!
Ultra-Sensitive Analytics that Rely on UltraPure Water are Fuelling Cutting-Edge Science
Some of the most interesting science being carried out at the moment pushes the boundaries of analytical sensitivity. Techniques such as inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) and ICP atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) allow researchers to explore biological and chemical systems in more detail and at greater resolution than ever before, including being able to detect the presence of chemicals and factors at trace (<100 ppm) and ultra-trace (<1 ppm) concentrations.
As an example, such sensitivity allows us to detect low expression biomarkers so that we can better diagnose and treat patients, helping to turn the promise of personalized medicine into a reality. High sensitivity analysis is also highly useful when working with environmental samples, so that researchers can better track global climate and environmental change.
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